Forks, Washington
by chocolatexsmores
Summary: So, here I am now. Isabella Marie Swan, the ‘new’ student in Forks, Washington who was regretting her choice to enroll in Forks High, or so I thought. Bella meets the Cullen's at Forks High having already been changed into a vampire. Is love in store?
1. Beginnings and Endings

_Bella POV_

Another school, another four years, another building with impatient teachers, rude teenagers, and crowded parking places. Ugh. Another four years of gym. Just my luck. A new house, another four weeks of unpacking everything, another two weeks of finding the perfect hunting place, another four years of trying to blend in.

Blending in was hard to do when you are an inhumanely beautiful vampire, surrounded by lustful boys and jealous girls, each gender wanting you in different ways. It was times like these that I was glad that I was a shield instead of getting powers that I've heard of from passer-bys – vampire passer-bys of course.

Landon, a vampire whom I met in Waterbury, Connecticut had the ability to manipulate anyone's mind. "_It's useful when you have ten different girls' a day trying to build up the courage to ask you out._" He had told me, while his wife, Ava, shook her head slowly, her hands clenching into small fists. "_I swear, if it weren't for the hundred witnesses, everyone of those heads would be clean off their shoulders._" I had smiled kindly at this notion, not knowing myself how it felt to have girls ask out your husband or boyfriend because, well… I've never had one.

It was times like those that made me realize I was truly alone. Anyone who I usually ran into and became acquainted with for a day or two always had a mate, _always_. Not once had I ran into someone alone, like me.

This simple fact had never really bothered me. I didn't mind being alone. I mean yeah sure, it would be nice to have _someone_ – a mate, a friend, a neighbor, anyone. But that's how I had always lived since I was changed twenty years ago – alone.

So anyways, I was a shield which meant I could mentally block anyone with a power having to do with the mind. I had only gotten to practice this gift twice – once with Landon and one when I was still human. I remember that day the most out of all my human memories. It was the day that marked me as different, _special_ my parents had called it.

I snorted as I thought back to that day. I was twelve and the carnival was in town. My hair-brained mother, Renée practically had to drag me out the door to go. I had hated carnivals when I was a child, despised them even. It had something to do with the spinning, nausea, and cotton candy mixed together.

_//Flashback//_

We had been at the park for over two hours and I was more than ready to go home. Renée had _finally_ gotten rid of all the tickets (how I have no idea since I refused to go on pretty much every ride) and we were heading out the gates when we walked by a fortune teller.

My mother, being the skeptical believer in higher powers dragged me into the tiny tent and sat me down in the chair across from an old lady who smelled of smoke and wine. Her hands were automatically on the glass ball as she asked my name.

I told her, trying to restrain from rolling my eyes at my mom who was standing off to the side, staring intently at the orb which was now glowing a musty gray. The fortune teller lady closed her eyes, her hands flying around the 'magical' sphere in different directions, chanting words that I was pretty sure were _not_ words under her breath.

I stared into the glass orb as the colors mesmerized me, leaving me feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented. The colors swirled, changing from gray to black to blue to purple back to gray then to a light green, when all of the sudden the colors stopped and the orb fell back to the glistening white it was before she started.

I looked up at the fortune teller in surprise, but she was looking at me the same way. "_Dis has never happeend before…_" she said confused and slightly frantic. "_You… you have… other worldly spirits…I cannot read dis child's future…_"

"Okay!" my mom said quickly, searching around in her purse until she pulled out a five. Laying it on the table she pulled me up, pulling me by the hand towards the opening of the curtain. "Thank you so much." She said slightly abolished and determined to get out.

I looked back at the fortune teller lady as I walked out of the tent. "_Prepare for the future early child; you never know what it might bring!_" was the last thing I heard from the old lady as I walked past the gates, to the car.

_//End Flashback//_

Well she was right about other worldly spirits. I'm sure any sane human would not think of vampires as being in their world, with their spirits. I sighed sitting up. I looked around my small room. The previous owners had done a nice hand with it, the paint was retouched on, the floor boards slightly creaking but nothing a girl couldn't get used to.

I stared at the dark blue wall facing me and I heaved a sigh as my eyes slid further down to my suitcases and shoe boxes littering the floor. I flopped back on the bed with a groan at the thought of the amount of boxes waiting for me downstairs!

I turned my head towards the one thing actually set up and put away in my room: the alarm clock. Not that I slept, but it was nice to know what time it was and how many more painful hours you had to occupy before the sun, or in the case of Forks, Washington of which I am currently inhabiting the clouds, arise, signaling morning and another dread filled school day.

The only real reason that I put up with school was because I really had nothing better to do with my time. Besides the obvious, hunting, I just sat around all day, bored out of my mind. School was a release from the long days, breaking up the lengthy hours with more lengthy hours spent reading books and documents I had read thousands of times before.

That was another upside of school: I already knew everything, so if it, say happened to be sunny out for once in this dreary town's life, skipping would not be a problem for me because initially I would not be missing a thing.

This was my fourth time going to a high school and my sixth move. I was still considered a 'young' vampire in most elders' eyes, having been changed when I was seventeen. Stupid mistake of mine really.

I had been walking through the woods when a fast moving object ran to me, knocking me off my feet. Now, I gave out a snort as I thought of the irony in that situation. Renée had always tried to keep me out of harms way, hard to do for a single mother who was also a risk taker. I remembered she would tell me that if I ever went out in the woods alone, there was a possibility that I could catch cold and die.

I find humor in that now, knowing that my mother didn't actually believe that but it turned out to be more of a truth than she bargained for. So anyways, back to the sadistic vampire. He, she I couldn't tell, everything had happened so fast, bit me and soon I found myself in unbearable pain, praying to God above to end it for me. When the Big Guy did nothing to soothe my pain, my beliefs faltered.

For three days I withered on the cold ground in pain, until finally the fire ended, my body regained strength and I could bear to move. Long story short, I smelled a mouth-watering smell, followed it, killed my first human, became disgusted at myself and forever after drank animal blood.

Since I drank animal blood, my eyes were golden instead of the livid red I've seen on certain others. I had kept to myself a while after that, not sure of what I had become, just knowing I was a monster, something cursed and kept on Earth instead of rightfully dying.

I quickly got over it though, when I ran into the Kole's, a small, animal-drinking group of vampires consisting of Elijah, his girlfriend Paige, and their "child" Charlotte. They informed me on the things I could and couldn't do as a vampire, and ever since then I have been following the rules, trying to stay clear of the Volturi, a powerful group of vampires in Italy who pretty much run the whole show; say who gets to live, who gets to die, that kind of thing.

So, here I am now. Isabella Marie Swan, the 'new' student in Forks, Washington who was regretting her choice to enroll in Forks High, or so I thought.

**So that's the first chapter of this story. Please, let me know what you think, not just "update soon!" What will really make me update soon is friendly criticism, please no flames. It kind of kills the "writing vibe" when your only thinking of that one review out of hundreds that read "this sucks", so please R&R. **


	2. Meet and Greet

**Okay people, all of my wonderful reviewers. I was just reading over my first chapter and I realized I made a huge mistake. So I wrote **_**"Not that I slept, but it was nice to know what time it was and how many more painful hours you had to occupy before the sun, or in the case of Forks, Washington of which I am currently inhabiting the clouds, arise, signaling morning and another dread filled school day."**_

**Okay, so the problem with that was I put that she doesn't sleep, and, I know vampire's don't sleep, but I meant for her TO sleep in this story so I have no idea why I wrote that, I think that was when I was too preoccupied listening to Hero of War by Rise Against (great song, btw). So I'm really sorry about that so just to sum it up once again: BELLA IS A SLEEPING VAMPIRE. And I'm going to add that right now. **

_Bella POV_

A blaring noise woke me out of my dreamless sleep. **(Confused? Read the note at the top.)**

I rolled over in bed and groaned. It was 5:45, one hour before I had to leave for school. Ugh, school. I sat up, stretching my legs under the covers. Not covers, blanket. I slept with a pillow and a comforter last night – no bedspread.

I had lain down to bed last night around midnight after a long four-hour hunt and by the time I got home I was beat. I didn't even try to look for my pajamas, falling asleep in the clothes I was wearing, which, mind you, were stained with dry blood.

I looked down at the over-sized white shirt I was wearing with jeans. It was a good thing they were old ones – I really did not have that many clothes. I would have to find a cheap store around here….

I got out of bed slowly, checking my surroundings and the curtains. It didn't usually take me long to get used to a new house, as long as I knew where everything was, I was fine.

I trudged my way down the hallway to the bathroom. I restrained from looking into the mirror, knowing that I would see an unbearably beautiful person in the reflection that I hadn't fully gotten used to yet.

I usually tried to avoid mirrors, especially in public. When people stare at you constantly, it doesn't help when they see you gasp at your reflection.

I stripped down and stepped into the blazing hot water, welcoming it, consuming it. When you had to spend an eternity with cold skin, the warmth felt… nice, pleasurable somehow. It was kind of like when I was human and it was summer. I would come out of the radiating hot sun and open the freezer, the cold air would come flowing out, caressing my sun-burnt skin in its heavenly ways.

I laughed humorlessly as I though of what it would be like now to go out in the sun. _Sparkle, sparkle._ It was the main reason I didn't go out in public. You never know when the weather will change; one minute cloudy, the next bright and sunny and revealing what you are.

The water began to turn cold so I turned it off. I grabbed the towel hanging on the hook and wrapped it around me. I got out slowly, careful not to slip from the wetness. Yes, I am clumsy. I am a clumsy vampire with no gracefulness whatsoever. I also blush… quite frequently might I add.

I laughed as I walked back to my room. Yes, I was a normal vampire indeed.

I moved around my room, trying to see which clothes were in which bags without having to actually dump out the clothes. Don't need even more of a mess than there already is. Finally, after a few minutes, I decided to just pick a bag, empty it out on the ground and pick clothes out of it.

Hopefully there would be the essentials. I picked my favorite suitcase. It was dark red and said "Bite Me" on it, very ironic. I dumped it out, fingers crossed, and out fell… a bunch of dresses.

I frowned. If there was anything I hated more than my clumsiness, it was dresses. I growled and started flinging clothes out of all the cases, trying to find a pair of jeans and a shirt – any shirt.

I sighed as I pulled a pair of jeans out of the pile and a dark blue shirt. I looked back at the clock: it was 6:35 now, I would have to leave in about 10 minutes if I wanted to get to the high school early to get my schedule.

I got dressed quickly and ran a comb quickly through my now dry hair, grabbing a sweatshirt I headed out the door towards my black Jetta, my baby. My hand ran along the side lovingly as I walked around to the driver's side at a human pace.

Seriously, my Jetta was all I had in this world, I took it everywhere. I washed it… often so it still looked brand new and had all the shininess of a new car. I smiled as I got in, smelling the scent of the smooth interior.

I pulled out of the garage, looking to my side to make sure I had my bag with me, which I did. I sped down the road, the speedometer reaching 100 mph. I sighed heavily, letting the quiet sound of the car driving across the touched up road fill my head, calming my nerves.

I watched as trees flew past me, thinking of new spots for hunting. I had only caught small game last night: a fox and a small deer. I wanted something _bigger_, more filling. Like a bear. The thought of the bear's blood running down my throat, soothing the ever-straying burn made venom collect in my mouth.

I swallowed it back hastily, trying to drive the thought from my mind. A sign caught my eye. _Welcome to Forks High_, it read. Well, that drove the thought of blood out of my mind. I swerved into the parking lot, the tires screeching slightly, causing the many students in the parking lot to look up. I slowed down, roaming around the parking lot until I could find a free space.

I drove down a long line of old, rusty cars. Well, I guess my car _won't _be ostentatious. I thought sarcastically I looked ahead, dodging the many glances of the Forks youth until I saw a sliver of a parking space that was not currently occupied.

Driving up closer to it, I saw that on one side there was an old Pinto, half black and half white and looked as though it could use a good cleaning. On the other side, on the other hand, was a brand new looking silver Volvo.

Seriously, it looks like this kid actually took better care of his Volvo than I did my Jetta. My eyebrows raised on their own as I slid in next to it. Just a _little_ brush of the Volvo… not enough to actually damage it, just a _little _scratch….

I shook my head as I pulled in, keeping my distance from the shiny Volvo and the rusted old Pinto. I got out of my car, making sure the door was locked. Who knew what someone would do to my baby if I left it unlocked.

_So much for being early_. I thought to myself precariously as I walked through the door that had a sign on it that read "This Way To The Main Office", all the while trying to keep away the stares with very little success.

I concentrated on reading the little signs all over the walls as I made my way to the office to keep myself distracted from the quiet whispering that, of course, since I was a vampire, I could hear clearly.

"_Dude. There is no way in hell that __**she**__ is single. And if she is, there's no way in __**hell**__ that you have a chance!" _

I groaned as all of the conversations of the guys went somewhat down that path, and the girls more or less like this:

"_Oh my, God. All of the guys are going to be __**all over**__ her! She's probably a slut…"_

I laughed to myself at that last comment made by a girl with a snobby-looking face an long blonde hair and standing next to, and, might I add, talking cheekily about the new comer, me.

I turned away from them, about to step into the office when another voice floated to my ears, and what she said surprised me immensely.

"_I mean look at her. She's drop dead gorgeous. If there is any reason to hate her, it's because the only person good enough at this school for her is Edward Cullen."_

It was the brown-haired girl's reaction and response to this statement that held my curiosity.

"_Yeah, true. Or one of his brothers… or sisters if she's into that. Really any of them. Actually, she kind of looks like them what with the pale skin and golden eyes and all. Do you think Dr. Cullen experiments on his children…"_

I closed the door, cutting off the rest of her words. I stared blankly in front of me. The _Cullen's_. So were they vampires too, or was the skin complexion and eyes just a coincidence?

Someone clearing their throat brought me out of my rushed thoughts and I snapped back to reality. A rather large woman with red frizzy hair sat on the other side of a large desk. She was looking at me with wonder and a bit of… awe?

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Cope. You must be…" She trailed off here, looking down at a list in front of her. "Isabella Swan?" she asked. I smiled, careful not to show my teeth. She seemed like a nice lady and I didn't want to be scaring my teachers and the school staff the first day of school now did I?

"Bella," I said, updating her on my name. I hated when people called me _Isabella_. It sounded so… old. Even though technically I _was_ old, well okay, so not _old_. I was really only 37 which was why I still had some of my newborn strength.

"Okay then, Bella. Here is your schedule. You have to get all your teachers to sign it at the end of class, and bring it back here to the Office at the end of the day, okay?" I nodded politely, smiling slightly again. It was best to show other people that you're nice and polite before they start to realize just how… un-normal you really are. It makes you less of a spectacle.

"Thank you so much," I opened the door to head out. "Oh, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me!" I nodded, said my thanks once again and headed off to homeroom.

I groaned as the bell rang, signaling that everyone should be in homeroom already. _Great, just great_. It's not that I was nervous about being late, I was nervous about walking in their to thirty-some stares. I didn't do well in the spotlight.

I walked down the hallway at a slower pace than usual. It was really hard to try to keep a human pace with no humans around to compare yourself to. For all I knew, right now I could be walking at 50 miles an hour!

That thought made me slow down a bit. I had finally reached the junior hallway – that's what I was this year, a junior. I really hated starting out freshmen year. It was hard enough to have to put up with all the humans and acting their age, but it was even harder when you didn't _look_ their age.

Starting as a junior was preferably my favorite. I clutched my bag closer to me and threw in my schedule. One look and I already had it memorized. I took a deep breath in front of the door marked _Room 125_, my homeroom.

I opened the door and trudged in, the depression of, once again having to make it through another year of boring teachers, stupid hormonal teenagers, and fake eating sunk in.

I kept my eyes on the teacher's desk in front of me, not daring to look back to all the lustful gapes of the guys and jealous glares of the girls. Hey, it wasn't my fault I was inhumanly beautiful, it really wasn't!

The teacher looked up eventually and looked taken aback. I internally groaned. This was obviously a new teacher, mid twenties or so, and the way he was looking at me made me want to turn around, run home, and dies a second death. Having a bunch of hormonal teenage boys after you twenty-four/seven was more than enough; I did not need teachers after me too.

"Hello, my name is Isabella Swan, but please, call me Bella." The teacher, Mr. Hardwick, _well that was appropriate_, snapped out of his most-likely disturbing reverie and smiled a smile that I took as supposing to be a turn-on, but really, it wasn't.

I smiled back, but this time showing my teeth, hoping to scare him a bit. His smile faltered and he leaned back a bit in his chair unconsciously, human instinct. "Right," he mumbled. "Um, you can take a seat next to Jessica Stanley in the back."

I reluctantly turned around, avoiding the piercing stares and made my way to the back to the only open seat. I sat down and looked to my left slightly. The girl, Jessica Stanley I presumed had brown curly hair and I recognized her as the girl talking to the blond one about the Cullen's.

"Hi! I'm Jessica Stanley! You must be Isabella!" she said, excitedly. I nodded, "Bella," I said curtly, wanting to end this conversation with no luck. "So, where do you come from Bella?" she pushed on. I held back a growl and an eye roll. I just wanted to get this day over with; I didn't need to butter it up with friendly conversation.

"Phoenix, Arizona." I said the first thing that came to mind, given that's where I had lived as a human with my mom before she died.

My harsh tone must have given a hint to Jessica, for she turned around in her seat, eyes wide and stared at the front of the classroom.

I sighed quietly. I also did not need to make enemies the first day either. "So… what class do you have first?" I asked her nicely, hoping it would make up for my rather rude remark.

Well, that question ended in a ten minute discussion of her classes, some kid named Mike that she liked and was in almost all her classes but didn't know she was alive, what she should do about it, to which I answered: _"Guys are oblivious to everything, make the first move and ask him out."_

I sighed in relief as the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom. I got up and made my way to English. I had always like English as a class because we usually read a lot of the old plays; _Romeo and Juliet_, _A Midnight Summer's Dream_, stuff like that. I had already read most of them, no, pretty much all of them anyways.

First period finally ended, which I was happy for. The whole class my face was flushed pink from all the stares. This was the worst part of school. I couldn't wait for a week to go by when the stares died down and everyone realized I was a freak, not normal. _Yay! That's going to be so exciting!_ I thought sarcastically. It actually was better when people found out you were weird because then you can loosen up your human façade. You don't have to purposely get an answer wrong on a test so people don't think your super smart and you also don't have to eat the revolting cafeteria food, only to cough it all up when you get home.

I opened the door to the Trigonometry classroom and noticed that the girl Jessica Stanley from my homeroom had the class with me, and sitting on a desk of a tortured looking boy. By the way she was flirting with him; I figured this was the Mike she had told me about.

Poor guy. He looked like he was in pain.

"Bella!" Jessica called me over when she noticed me standing there. I smiled slightly at her as my way over, not really wanting to talk to them, but wanting to get to my seat before the teacher had a chance to introduce me to the class.

"Bella, this is Mike," she arched her eyebrow at me, secretly telling me that this was _the_ Mike. I smiled politely at him and stuck out my hand. "Bella," I said as he shook it, his eyes slightly unfocused. It seemed as though he would be drooling if he was more out of it. "Whoa… you're really pretty…" he said.

I felt the blush creeping up to my cheeks before it actually left its mark and pried my hand away from his. I was used to the stares from guys, but I think this was the first time someone has told me upright I was pretty.

A kid that was sitting on his desk next to Mike slapped the back of his head, having been listening in to our conversation. "_Dude!_" he whisper-yelled.

Mike's head snapped towards the tall man who had hit him. "Shit. Did I say that out loud?!" he asked incredulously, his head falling onto the desk in embarrassment. "That really hurt, Tyler," he moaned, rubbing the back of his head.

The boy, Tyler, laughed at him and jumped off the desk. "You deserved it." I walked to the only free desk before something even more awkward than that happened. Unfortunately, I realized, my desk was next to Jessica's because she turned to me with a glare in her eyes, fuming.

I looked away quickly, knowing that she was mad because she thought I was stealing her "boyfriend". Well, it's good that she thinks that because it would get her to leave me alone, hopefully. After knowing her for only about an hour, she was turning out to be the most annoying person I've had to deal with for all my vampire years.

**Hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I don't really have an excuse for that… 0_0 more just that schools over (Finally!!) and I've just been to lazy to actually take out my laptop and sign on. **

**So this chapter was extra long for you guys, and I know, nothing big really happens but be prepared for the next chapter, Bella meets the Cullen's!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!**


	3. The Cullen's

_Bella POV_

I sighed heavily as I opened my locker, tossing my books inside and grabbing my biology book. I slammed the locker shut with a huff and started off down the hall towards the cafeteria. Only two more classes left, after lunch; bio and gym. I groaned. _Gym_ was one of my least favorite classes. Scratch that. Gym _was_ my least favorite class.

It wasn't only because I was clumsy, but also the shorts and t-shirts, getting dressed and undressed in front of people, having to be on teams. Anything that made me have to interact with the humans I disliked; it just showed them how different I was from the rest of the school.

I took my time getting to the cafeteria. It wasn't like I actually had anyone to sit with, or wanted to sit with. Plus, this other family, if they were vampires, I wouldn't want to sit with them. So this way, if I was last to lunch, I could make sure to sit as far away as possible from them. I didn't know what they were like or if they drank humans, which I'm guessing they don't since they're attending high school.

If they were aggressive and didn't want any other vampires around their "turf", I'd have to be sure not to get in their way; I didn't want to start something the first day of school, the first day of a very long two years in Forks.

I took a deep breath as I rounded the last corner heading into the cafeteria. It was hard enough having to deal with the smell of humans, but the smell of humans _and_ their food… let's just say it wasn't the best mixture for a vampire.

I walked past the crowded lunch line, not even bothering to make a human impression by buying food. Walking past the second vending machine, I saw the table Mike was sitting at with Jessica and a few other people I had seen them hanging around today.

I steered clear of their table, knowing that that was one place I would not be thrilled to be seated at. I glanced around the cafeteria, not landing on faces, until I found an almost empty table in the back. Since I was one of the last people to the cafeteria, and there were only a few people left in line, I chanced it.

I sat down on the far end of the table, the only other inhabitant was a girl who looked to be a freshmen. She looked to be reading her math book and I instantly felt bad, realizing that this girl most likely had no friends.

I sighed as I realized that I was not going to be the savior to this girl's social problem.

I looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed that there was still twenty-five minutes left to lunch. I sighed internally, willing the time to fly by so I could get my first day over with.

The sound of laughter obnoxiously filled the cafeteria as I looked up to Mike's table. Everyone around him was laughing, their faces beet red at some kid who had spilt his milk on himself. I snorted looking away. If they found spilt milk that hilarious…

"Atrocious, isn't it?" I looked to my right into a tiny pixie's face with black spiky hair. She must be one of the Cullen's.

"I don't find the humor in these kind of situations. It makes the human population seem like animals." I smiled at her deliberate thoughts.

"I see what you mean." She smiled back and turned to the blond-haired man who was standing next to her, his arm wrapped around her tiny figure.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" I shook my head, waving my hand out to the open seats of the table around me. The pixie sat next to me, accompanied by her boyfriend, or husband, I presumed.

I noticed the girl at the end of the table leave as they sat and I felt bad, thinking that we possibly disturbed her reading.

"I'm Alice Cullen, and this is my husband, Jasper Hale." Her tiny voice brought me out of my thoughts and I focused again on her and the blond boy, Jasper. She stuck out her hand I took it, shaking lightly.

"I'm Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella." Jasper nodded at me in his way of a greeting and I smiled politely back.

"It's funny… I didn't see you were a vampire…" her musings caused Jasper to look at her with a wary expression. I looked down, trying to hide my smile as he told her, "she might not be a vampire," at a high speed that an ordinary human would never stand a chance of hearing.

"I am… a vampire."

"I was just making sure…" Jasper smiled sheepishly.

I smiled at him as Alice placed her hand on top of his.

"What did you mean… you didn't _see_ I was a vampire?"

"Oh," Alice smiled widely at me, obviously excited by whatever news she was about to lay on me, "I have premonitions; I can see the future, but for some reason, yours is… unclear?" It seemed as though she were trying out the words, but they weren't fitting the way she would have liked.

"Oh, so you can see the future? Well, I'm a shield which is probably why you can't see mine clearly."

"A shield, huh? How does that work? You can only shield yourself or can you shield others, too?" she seemed genuinely curious and I could feel myself becoming attached to this small girl in a friendly, if not sisterly way.

"Well, I haven't really had much practice with shielding other vampires since I live alone, but I have shielded one other vampire before. It worked pretty well, but I'm sure I could manage to stretch it out more."

Alice nodded, her eyebrow arched. She started bouncing in her seat, clapping her hands and smiling like a maniac. I looked to Jasper wildly, trying to find out if this was normal behavior, but the way he was watching her made me feel like this was not normal… this was _her_.

Her husband placed his hand on her shoulder and she visibly calmed, the bouncing replaced by slouching.

"Too much, Jazz." She moaned, looking over at him. I watched this exchange, all the while keeping my curiosity to myself.

"I can feel peoples' emotions and manipulate them." Jasper explained with a shrug. "It works in the case of this one." He pointed to Alice and I couldn't help the smile that came over my features at the sight of them. They were obviously very happy together.

"So, you live alone, huh? We have three more siblings, and a 'mom' and 'dad'." She air-quoted the "mom and dad" and I understood why. They were just parental figures to their five "children".

"Are you the only ones in your family with powers?" I asked, wondering how many, if all, had powers.

"No, my brother Edward, he can read minds. And then Rosalie and Emmett, who are married don't have powers, and neither do our 'mom' and 'dad' Esme and Carlisle." She finished off the heavy list with a small smile.

"So… where are Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett? Did they finish high school already?" Alice shook her head and looked towards the cafeteria doors.

"They should be here any minute. Rose stopped by the bathroom to check her makeup – she broke the mirror in her locker, so obviously Emmett had to wait for her. I'm not sure where Edward is though."

"Probably checking up on his Volvo." Jasper and Alice erupted into snickers, trying to keep quiet while I went into a mental breakdown.

Volvo? As in the one I had a momentary need to scratch up and/or dent?

"Bella? Are you alright?" I looked at Jasper.

"What, oh, yeah. I'm fine." He looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds. "Really? Because for a minute there, I was getting waves of panic and comprehension from you…" I looked up at him.

"Wait, so you can still feel my emotions? I didn't lower my shield or anything…" I trailed off in thought. So maybe my shield wasn't as powerful as I thought it was. I still had to mend it a bit. I looked at Alice and saw her, once again, shaking in her seat with excitement. _Well, I guess I know one person who would be willing to help me._

"We could work on your shield together!" she blurted out, unconsciously acknowledging my thoughts. I smiled at her idea, happy that for once in my life, it seemed I would have someone to call a friend.

"Edward could probably help out too. Oh, God. I can't _wait_ to hear his complaints about not being able to read your mind." Jasper laughed quietly as Alice rolled her eyes.

"Speak of the Devil…" I looked up to where Jasper was looking and saw two people walking into the cafeteria, or vampires by the way they were gracefully making their way across the cafeteria. One was a tall blonde, striking lady with an air of smugness around her. Obviously she was gorgeous, and she knew it.

She, Rosalie I presumed, was hand in hand with an enormous, curly, black-haired man with a childish grin plastered over his face. I realized this was Emmett, and couldn't help the smile that came over me. Emmett was obviously muscular, and large in the extreme, but had an atmosphere of a teddy bear.

"Nope. It's alright Jazz. I don't think Eddie's with them." Jasper nodded along with Alice's statement as the couple walked up to our table; Emmett smiling hugely at me and Rosalie… well, not so much of a smile as a glower.

"Alice. Why are we sitting _here_." I found myself huddling into the back of my chair at Rose's fierce words. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Rose, chill. This is Bella. She's a vampire just like us." The stern look left Rosalie's face as she took me in.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize…. Alice. Why didn't you see this?" Alice beamed up at Rosalie.

"She's a shield, so I couldn't see all around her, just a tad."

Rosalie nodded her head in understanding and sat down besides Jasper. Emmett followed suit, the silly grin still on his face.

"You're a shield! Can you shield other people?!" he boasted, his eyes shining with happiness. I nodded my head.

"Yes! Finally! I can have an even match against Jasper and Eddie!" I smiled, quickly realizing that this was not the type of vampire family that kept to themselves.

I began to think of different ways that I could avoid having to deal with them for too long. Sure, they were nice and all _now_, but give or take a few days…

My thoughts were demolished when a musical voice hit my ears.

"I do _not_ like being called Eddie." I looked up to find where the voice came from and standing behind Emmett was the most gorgeous vampire I had ever seen. Now, I hadn't seen many vampires, but I'm sure _he_ would be counted as one of the most handsome out of the bunch.

"Yeah, yeah. Just like Rose doesn't like it when I touch her hair. Come on. We all know that you really do." I giggled as Rosalie's hand collided with the back of Emmett's head and he groaned in pain.

I looked across me into the eyes of the Greek God himself and couldn't help but to openly stare. All his features were perfectly angled, more so than a normal vampire, and the bronze hair atop his head was fixed in a way that looked like it would have taken hours to get it to sit perfect, but seemed as though he had just rolled out of bed.

His jaw was set in a squared position and I found my fingers willing to reach out and touch his face. On instinct, I pressed my hand closer to my leg, prepared to clench down with all force if I tried to act on this whimsical notion.

I had stolen a quick glance of his topaz-colored eyes at first, quickly moving onto other features from the fiery pull they brought onto my body. Looking back at them now, if I had thought that was a _pull_, well then I might as well strap my body to this God damn chair because I was about to jump.

**Hey guys. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while but it's because I have an Upper Respiratory Infection (URTI/URT) and seriously, I've been laying on the couch for the past week or so watching TV with no motivation whatsoever to actually type up a chapter. **

**So, since I'm doing better now, I'm trying to update as hurriedly as I can to keep all my happy reviewers happy.**

**Before I post the next chapter, I would like at least 25 reviews……. I'M SO SORRY TO DO THAT BUT I HAVE A LOT MORE PEOPLE FAVORITING THIS STORY THAN REVIWEING AND I REALLY REALLY LIKE REVIEWS A LOT!! =*( **

**But hey, look on the bright side. That's only 11 more!! =D**


	4. Cell Cycles, yawn Edward Cullen, yum!

**Hi, I'm **_**really**_** sorry that I haven't updated in a long time but I've been away for most of the summer and I had no internet service to post any chapters. Plus, I've been a fricken beach bum with no want whatsoever to use the computer. BUT, **_**but.**_** I'm working on that. =D**

_Bella POV_

The bell rang and I gathered my things, admittedly a little upset to have to leave the Cullen's, but also admittedly more than a little intimidated by Emmett's strength, Rosalie's beauty, Alice's peppiness, Jasper's quietness, and of course, Edward's… features.

"Bella," I looked up at Alice. Her grin was huge and I could only imagine what she was about to tell me, or ask me rather.

"You _have_ to come over to our house after school! Our parents would love to meet you!"

"Um,"

"Oh! Yeah! Esme will be thrilled to have another 'daughter'!" Rose squealed, clapping her hands together in a very Alice-like fashion.

"Guys. You are overwhelming her. I am sure she will meet them soon. She did just meet five vampires, if you will remember correctly."

I smiled up at Edward, secretly dubbing him my personal savior. His answering smile was a breath taking crooked grin.

"Right, well come on Alice. We're going to be late for trig."

Jasper grabbed a reluctant Alice's hand and practically dragged her out of the room, promising her a shopping trip when she became upset.

"Bye, Bella! See you later!" Emmett hollered as him and Rosalie left the cafeteria. I waved and turned back to the table to grab my biology book, but saw Edward had already grabbed it for me and was making his way past a table ahead of me.

"Come on Bella," he called over his shoulder with a chuckle. It took me a while to get my legs moving, but I recovered and walked quickly to catch up to him, taking my book and thanking him.

"No problem. I too have biology. And, I presume, you have Mr. Banner?" His eyebrow arched, still not looking at me.

"Mm-hmm," I mumbled, still breath taken by his presence.

"Good. Because, if I am being honest with you Bella, I need another vampire in the room to keep me from strangling the senseless humans."

I laughed at that, and noticed with shock that we were already at the room. Time flew by when Edward was involved!

He held open the door for me and I stepped in, thanking him. Gorgeous _and_ a gentleman. He _must_ be taken. _Taken? Why am I thinking about Edward's relationship status?! I just met him not even an hour ago!_

And, I sighed here, I was already smitten.

*****

Twenty minutes, one open seat next to Edward, and a (slightly) attentive class later, Mr. Banner started his lesson. The cell cycle. _Great._

Edward smiled down at me as soon as the class was settled and beginning their labs.

"Ladies first?" he pushed the microscope towards me and I took it, our fingers brushing briefly. I swallowed back the tingly sensation and peered into the microscope.

"Prophase," I sighed and pushed it over towards him after taking out the slide. He wrote it down on the paper in a neat cursive writing.

"Anaphase." He said in a tone mocking mine. Bored and uninterested. I laughed quietly and he smiled widely, showing all his perfect ultra-white teeth.

"I could do the rest, if you would like?" I shook my head at his amused expression and grabbed the microscope, putting my hand out for the next slide. He graciously bypassed my hand and inserted the slide himself.

"Interphase," I took in a quick breath, noticing for the first time in two years the smell of thirty humans in a room. _Yeah, first time because you've been too preoccupied in Edward, dope._ I put aside the thoughts of my inner self and looked at the paper where Edward had written _prophase_, _anaphase_, and _Interphase_ neatly on their respective lines.

"Three down, three to go." Edward muttered, grabbing the last three slides.

In no time at all – about ten seconds with vampire eyes and brains, if you must know – we were finished.

Edward pushed aside the microscope and turned to look at me.

"So, you just moved to Forks, right? I mean, you haven't just been hanging out in the town?"

I shook my head, "No, I moved here two days ago, actually." My tone sounded surprised even to myself. I already felt like I had been living in this place for a year. I guess that's what small towns did to you.

"How long have you guys been here?" I asked before he could shoot another question at me. I was going to keep this Q&A conversation from him questioning and me answering, switching it up a bit. And, it's not like I wasn't interested in him and his family. They must be leading a much more interesting life than me!

"Um, well this is our second time here. But we moved here about three years ago. Alice and I started out as freshmen, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper as sophomores. Plus, we have to move around quite a lot because Carlisle, our father figure, is a doctor."

I gaped at him and he smiled. I pulled myself together and cleared my throat.

"He _is_ a-"

"Yes." He interrupted me.

"_How_?!" I questioned, surprised. I had a pretty good resistance to blood, but never enough to be a doctor.

"Well, for one thing, Carlisle was born in the 1600's, so he had plenty of time to perfect his… resistance," he leaned closer to me, talking quieter when the group behind us started listening to our exchange.

He said something else about Carlisle's greatness, or something like that, but I was too busy trying to keeps my eyes off his lips. Perfectly full and pale, kissable in a guy kind of way. Perfect.

I was in a slight dilemma here. I couldn't look at his lips for fear of leaning in closer and planting one on him, but I also couldn't look in his eyes for fear of also, leaning in closer and planting one on him. _Stop it! Pay attention!_

Luckily, Mr. Banner was the one who caught my attention before I had to worry about losing my internal battle. He looked over our sheet, matching it with his which was really kind of sad. I mean, come on. There were only six answers on the sheet. I really don't think that a cheat-sheet was in need for this job.

His gaze flickered up to Edward and then quickly over to mine, lingering for a while until Edward cleared his throat, effectively pulling Mr. Banner's eyes away from me.

The teacher also cleared his throat before putting the paper back down and turning his eyes on Edward. He flinched back slightly, and I looked over at Edward to see why.

His usually topaz-colored eyes were now a dark, dark gold, flecked with hints of their normal color. _Mmmm…._ If the sudden change in color wasn't enough, he was also glaring murderously.

I thought back to what Edward had told me after lunch.

"_Good. Because, if I am being honest with you Bella, I need another vampire in the room to keep me from strangling the senseless humans."_

I had assumed he was joking around, but looking at his attractive, _very, extremely attractive_, sinister face, I gave my assumption a second thought.

"Mr. Banner…?" I asked innocently, trying to divert his attention from Edward to me – successfully.

"Oh, yes. Did Edward do all of these?" I shook my head, "No, sir," Edward interrupted, eyes (gratefully) back to normal and not glaring, but not quite his tone, "she identified three of the six."

"I see. Have you done this course before, Bella?"

"Yes," I said sheepishly, smiling apprehensively.

When he left, my attention immediately went to Edward, who was clenching and unclenching his fist.

"Are you alright?"

"I am fine," he looked up at me from beneath his long black eyelashes, "It is just sometimes, most of the time, humans have very… disturbing thoughts." He looked up at me and then back down to the desk so quickly, even for a vampire, that I thought I must have imagined it.

"So, Bella," he started, changing the subject, but a burning question on my tongue wouldn't allow it.

"You can read minds." I hissed out, my face close to Edward's so no one else in the room had a chance of hearing me, human and vampire alike, though we were the only vampires in the room.

"Yes." He hissed back, once again making fun of me. He leaned back in his chair and I watched his every move. _Shit_. Even though I had my shield up, I had no clue how strong his mind reading was. What if he could still read my mind? What if he is reading it right now? What if he was reading it when I was thinking about his… good looks?

I felt a blush creep across my face and I closed my eyes, groaning. They snapped open though, when something cold grazed my cheek. I looked at the pale hand in front of my face, the fingers out stretched, as did Edward, even though it was his hand.

He brought it back to his side of the table and I pushed down the feelings in me that wanted him to touch me again, yearned for it. _God damn it! I'm attracted to him._

"You… blushed?" he formed the statement into the appearance of a question like he didn't believe what he was saying. "And your cheek was… warm? How is that possible?!"

His finger reached out to touch me again and I leaned away from it, even though all my senses were telling me to lean back in.

"I would appreciate it very much if you wouldn't probe me like a science project, thank you very much."

He smiled apologetically, taking back his hand and finger. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me. Now can you answer my question?"

I bit my bottom lip. "What was your question?" I asked.

He snorted and my eyebrows crossed in frustration. _Jeez! And to think I was willingly answering his questions!_

"I _asked_: How is that possible?"

"Wh- how should I know?!"

"Hmm," he was deep in thought, allowing me to study his Greek-God-like features without him realizing, "I have to show Carlisle, he will know."

"Again with the science project." I reminded him, feigning anger.

He chuckled, "You are absurd."

"And _you _don't use contradictions." I stated, pulling together my stuff and shoving it in my bag as the bell had rung, announcing the almost end of school.

"I-_I'm_ so very sorry. I will try harder next time to use contradictions." He smirked and stood up, having only to put his pencil away.

I rolled my eyes.

"By the way, I'm impressed."

"Impressed of what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Impressed of your shield. I've been trying to break through most of the class. It's strong, but I'm sure with some practice I'll be able to break through." He said lightheartedly, smiling.

_Oh, God. I hope not._

**Kay, so I was too lazy to pull out my handy dandy copy of Twilight to perfect the 'Cell Cycle' part of this, but oh well. This isn't Twilight, exactly. Plus, I have to give credit to MaryJanice Davidson, author of the Undead series for the contradiction quote.**

'_**Ah, Sinclair!'**_** *Swoon***

**A great series, equipped with yummy lemons and bad-ass vampires!**


	5. Someone Else

**So, I don't usually write in Edward's POV, but I'm going to for a little bit in this story here and there so that you can understand how he's feeling about Bella.**

**Hey Kiddies, so I'm FINALLY posting this chapter!! Now that school is starting I will probably be doing regular updates… so here you go!!**

_Edward POV_

I walked towards my locker, ignoring the looks of my passersby, _narrowly _avoiding a conversation with Jessica Stanley. That girl just never could take a hint. I stopped giving her reasonable excuses for why I could not date her, and now just settled for plain no.

Alice had reassured me (three years ago) not to worry, that her natural instincts would take over soon like everyone else's and she would leave me alone.

Yeah? Well guess what, Pixie! It's been three fucking years and the girl has showed no signs, _no signs!_ of a natural instinct!

I sighed, quickly opening my locker and placing my books inside. The good thing about being a vampire is that when your only homework is to study, you have no homework. All the information you could ever possibly need is stored up in your undead brain, ready to be pulled to the front when needed.

I turned, quickly walking off in the general direction of my next class as I caught Jessica's eye. Didn't need another… attack today.

The appearance of Bella had made Jessica… self-conscious. Bella was plainly prettier than her, if you can call a face caked with makeup pretty, unlike Bella who was all natural beauty, plus her vampire, inhuman perfection. Although, I'm pretty sure that even if she was human, her attractiveness would still be 100% more than any other female. _Ehm, like Jessica_.

I had study hall for my last period so, seeing as I had no homework, I was going to skip it and spend the last period of the day in my car, relaxing to Clair de Lune. I walked out the door, very nearly crashing into Emmett, who was standing on the other side of it.

"Hey, little brother!"

"Em, what the hell are you doing out here? Don't you have Spanish for your last class today?"

"Yeah, so?" he shrugged as if we were talking about him missing lunch.

"_So_, Esme is going to be mad at you – again – for skipping Spanish. This is what? The fifth time you've skipped?"

"Actually, Edwardo, it's my _sixth_, Mr. Need-To-Know-All-The-Details!"

"Don't call me that! And _sixth??_ We've only been in school for three weeks!"

I rolled my eyes at my brother's obvious carelessness. He followed me out to the Volvo and hopped in the passenger side.

"Where to, Eddie?" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Emmett, I'm not going anywhere. I came out here to relax, but it seems that plan is now impossible."

"Why? I'll be quiet! Just as long as you don't play any of that Claire Duh Looney crap."

I mumbled my hatred of Emmett under my breath. Either he didn't hear it, or if he did, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Okay. First of all, it's _Claire. De. Lune._ Secondly, yes. I am going to play it. And thirdly, go away." He ignored me completely by jumping into the passenger side of the car. I shook my head disbelievingly and opened my door, throwing my bag into the backseat.

Emmett's hand moved toward the radio and I punched him in the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow! Jeez! You need to lighten up, dude!" his eyes got a wicked gleam in them and he murmured, "I bet Bella could help you with that." My head snapped towards him, my eyes narrowing.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just you're obvious _lusting_ over a certain somebody by the name of Isabella Swan!!" I scoffed, turning around in my seat so I could effectively glare at Emmett, who was smirking like a child.

"Where the fuck did you get that idea?"

"Language, dear brother. Language. Mom would not be too happy to find out about the words your using!"

I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

"Em, could you please leave? You are _really_ annoying me with all your nonsense talk!"

Emmett clucked his tongue, shaking his head slowly.

"Edward, Edward, Edward. You are so naïve."

I rolled my eyes at the irony of Emmett, of all people, calling _me_ naïve. My mind sauntered to Bella and about my "obvious _lusting_" over her, which was completely and utterly insane. Sure, she was nice and beautiful and smart. But anyone could see that without having… feelings towards her. Right? Right.

*****

_Bella POV_

I trudged my way through the hallway, slowly, and unfortunately, making my way to gym. I don't care what anyone says. Gym is most definitely the worst class invented in the history of the world.

What's the point of creating a class that defies people as athletic or not, losers or jocks. Isn't it bad enough that high school is full of sporty people, complete with pep-rallies? No, of course not.

Even as a human, I can't remember one time that I was seriously interested in any type of sport. Except ballet, but that's a different story.

A minute later, I found myself in front of a door marked _Ladies Locker Room_ and pulled it open slowly, secretly praying the door would be locked. Why? Why do I put myself through this?

I groaned internally as the smell of sweat, deodorant, and too much perfume hit my overly-sensitive nose. I walked past the many lockers, stuffed with extra clothes, sneakers, tampons, and anything else girls could find to shove in them, to a door marked _Mrs. Hill, P.E. Instructor_.

I knocked on the door gently, hoping for the knock to not be heard so I could run out to my car and let the familiar scent of my Jetta run over my senses. Quick footsteps sounded from the other side, quick and quiet. Too quiet for human ears, but loud to mine.

The door swung open, creaking oddly to reveal a tall woman, taller than Rosalie, with a muscular build, like a guy. Like Emmett. I kept myself from shuddering at the look of pure evil on her face. Her scowl, her fierce black eyes, and her awkwardly angled features that sort of reminded me of Edward's perfectly angled features, which was odd because they were the complete opposite of his.

Where Edward's features looked nice… okay, that was the biggest lie I've ever told. His features looked _gorgeous_ on him, whereas Mrs. Hill's were… not gorgeous.

"Can I help you?" Her deep voice brought me out of my thoughts and I tuned into the situation at hand.

"Hi. I'm Bella Swan. I'm new…" she had turned around and began rummaging through a box on her desk as I was talking. I trailed off, wondering if she was even listening. She came up with (oh, God) a lock attached to a combination.

"Put this on any free locker and bring me back the combination, make sure you write it down first." I took it from her large hand and turned on my foot, searching around for a locker close to the exit.

"Bella!" I looked towards a familiar voice, Jessica Stanley. She was waving me over and I gradually made my way, stumbling on a pair of sneakers in the way.

"There's an open locker you can have here," she pointed to one with an obvious rust problem. My eyebrows narrowed as I yanked it open and gazed inside, making sure there were no panties or spiders.

"Thanks, Jessica." I was grateful to the fact that I was near the exit and had _someone_ in this class that would talk to me.

*****

Forty minutes, two bruises to other people caused by me, and one bad case of hit-in-the-head head ache (to which I never knew vampires _could_ get headaches, but then again we're supposed to have perfect balance too) I was in the locker room, grabbing my bag, and booking it out of school.

The bell had rung ten seconds after they called the end of class and the entire girls' locker room was in chaos. I didn't understand why, though. I was pretty sure everyone in the class drove cars but I wasn't one to question. Heck! I wanted to get out of there just as much as the next girl!

I successfully exited the building when Mike, ugh, caught up to me. The whole gym class he had been trying to make small talk with me, ending in inviting me to his beach party. I had politely declined, telling him that I wouldn't be in Forks that weekend, that I was visiting some relatives.

He had pouted and pleaded with me to go some other time, but I had stood my ground. It's not that I didn't want to go, even though I didn't, it was just that I wasn't willing to spill the secret that I was a vampire by sparkling in front of my classmates. Not that I wanted to spill the secret at all. I didn't need the Volturi chasing after me for my head.

"Hey, Bella!"

"Hi, Mike," I forced a smile that kept my eyes from rolling at the boy who reminded me of a dog. I could practically see his tail!

"So, I was wondering, if you're not busy, maybe we could… see a movie some time? Like tomorrow night?" I grimaced. Hopefully he would get the hint with one denial. I hated hurting people.

"Sorry, I really can't. I need to finish unpacking, and I have a lot of homework. I'm sorry."

He looked ahead of me and something caught his eye, making them flash with anger.

"Is it someone else?" he asked quietly, anger clear in his tone. I looked to where he was looking and saw the silver Volvo parked next to my black Jetta. My eyes travelled over to the side of it to see Edward Cullen leaning against the Volvo, looking in our general direction, his arms crossed over his chest.

I looked back at Mike quickly, back to Edward (realizing in a glance how much better looking he was than any of the guys at this school), then back to Mike who was now looking at his shoes. I moaned quietly and cursed under my breath. I hadn't even been in school for a full day and I already had a boy crawling after me.

"Mike, it really is none of your business, but it isn't _someone else_. I just moved here and your real nice and all, but I'm not ready for a relationship yet. I'm sorry." I smiled genuinely at him, really sorry that I couldn't date someone like Mike.

Apart from the obvious reason (I was a vampire, he was a human), it really was a little because I wasn't ready for a relationship. I had never been in one before, and therefore wouldn't know what to do, or what should happen. I would be completely lost. Like a person who lives in New York being placed on a stranded island. Utterly and completely lost.

He nodded in remorseful agreement and waved bye to me as he made his way to his car. I shut my eyes tight and took a deep breath, counting backwards from ten. _Of all the things that could happen to me on the first day… _I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky, scowling. I _hated_ school.

I made my way slowly to my car, trying not to look up at the Greek-God-like vampire standing next it. I could feel his eyes boring into me, and my suspicion was proven by his musical voice.

"So you already have Mike falling all over you, huh?" I looked up at him, big mistake. The corner of his mouth was pulled up in a glorious crooked grin, along with one of his eyebrows which was arched up in amazement. I tore my gaze away from his face and tried to focus my attention on trying to find my keys with little success.

"Don't remind me," I groaned, pulling out my keys triumphantly. As soon as I had them in my hand, I dropped them. I bent down to retrieve them from the ground when Edward's hand shot out and grabbed them for me. I straightened up quickly, watching him wearily.

He held out his hand with my keys on his palm and I took them, my fingers lightly grazing his hand. I suppressed the shudder that threatened to tremble through my spine and thanked him courteously. He smiled in response and I found myself staring at him.

His perfectly messy bronze hair was dancing in the slight wind, making my fingers itch to feel the softness of each strand. His eyes were a dark gold, like he would soon need to feed, and were studying mine. It seemed as though he was looking into my soul, and I wasn't yet sure how I felt about that.

His perfectly shaped lips were slightly opened like he was about to whisper something. I found myself wondering what his smooth lips would feel like moving against mine.

"Ehm," I started at the sudden interruption that pulled me out of my confusing thoughts and saw the rest of the Cullen's standing together watching us. Alice's eyebrows were raised as she took in mine and Edward's stances. At a second look, I realized he was standing closer to me than he should be at a friend level.

He seemed to realize this at the same time as I did because he took a step back, clearing his throat. His eyebrows furrowed at something Alice thought and she smiled wickedly. I turned towards my car and opened the door so that I wouldn't have to hear Alice voice what she was thinking.

"Tomorrow after school, you should come to our house. Esme and Carlisle would love to meet you, Bella!" I smiled at Alice, who was absolutely glowing with excitement.

"I'd love to," Alice grinned from ear to ear and hopped into the Volvo, more like floated into the Volvo. Edward smiled at me warmly one last time and got in the driver's side. The car started with a classy _vroom_, and they were off after a final wave from Emmett.

I plopped into my own car with an exasperated sigh.

The drive home calmed me down. The sound my Jetta made going ninety on a forty mile-per-hour road was a soothing _whoosh_ as I passed what seemed like a mile of tree line. I looked out into the distance and mildly wondered where the Cullen's had taken residence.

I'm sure that with a family that large (what was it? Like seven family members? That I knew of. They could have twenty more stored up there somewhere) they would have made sure they were pretty well hidden. Not like my house which was… not in a secluded area.

The house wasn't in the middle of a highway or anything, it was actually kind of peaceful compared to the apartments I was used to.

I pulled into the gravel driveway and got out, making sure I had locked my doors. _I wonder if the Cullen's even bother locking their cars._ From the way it sounded at school, humans stayed out of their way. Which meant the since about thirty percent of the Forks population _attended_ Forks High, the Cullen's were most likely widely known throughout the small population of Forks.

Jasper had explained to me that they had moved here during freshmen year and that by now, almost everyone's human instincts had kicked in. _"Except Jessica Stanley's."_ Edward had mumbled crossly, glaring over at her table.

This then led into a verbose conversation between Alice and Edward about Jessica Stanley and other irritations.

For some reason, I liked the fact that Edward was thoroughly annoyed with Jessica. She had showed much interest in him (who wouldn't?) in a discussion we had about the play _Romeo and Juliet_ we had to read in English. How someone could go from the death of two star-crossed lovers to Edward Cullen is still a mystery to me, as is Edward Cullen himself.

**Kay, so I thought that was a good place to end that chapter. Longest one so far!! YESSS!! Over 2500 words!! Oh, and aside from not owning the Twilight saga, I also do not own **_**Romeo and Juliet**_** by Shakespeare OR the term 'star-crossed lovers'!!!! KAY KAY!!**

**Review, please!**


	6. My Subconcious

**I don't own Twilight! **

_Bella's POV_

I swerved into the school parking lot, the tires sliding across the slippery pavement. It had randomly gotten icy over night. In the middle of October! It's supposed to be chilly, not freezing. I drove around some other cars to get to my lot and saw the Cullen's getting out of their car.

They stood in front of the Volvo as I pulled in and saw Alice visibly bouncing in place, wrapped up in a jacket that looked like it was swallowing her. There was something seriously wrong with that girl.

Getting out of my car slowly and safely, I grabbed my bag and locked the door behind me.

"Hey," I greeted the Cullen's walking up to them.

"Good morning," Edward said, smiling courteously at me.

"Hey, Bells!" Emmett said excitedly, "So are you coming over to our house after school? Because I _really_ want to wrestle Edward fairly." He glared over at Edward who shrugged.

"It's not my fault that I can read minds," Emmett crossed his arms, puffing out his chest.

"Yeah, but can't you just, like… I don't know! Turn it off for five minutes!" Edward scowled a look of pure infuriation on his ungodly handsome face. He must be used to

questions like this from Emmett.

"How many times have I told you? I can't just _turn it off_!!" Edward had taken a threatening step towards Emmett and I looked around, making sure there were no humans around. It would be kind of hard to explain to the students why they were crouching in a defensive position and growling at each other like they were going to attack.

Luckily, Jasper stepped in between them, pushing Edward's chest to make him back off. I let out a breath of air as his muscles became prominent by the force of Jasper's hand, showing off his hidden structure. I felt like I should check a mirror to make sure I wasn't drooling.

I looked away before I did anything rash, like, oh I don't know… reaching out and touching his chest and abdomen….

"Guys. Calm down. We don't need a fight in the middle of a school parking lot. Save it for the field." His tone was unmistakable, finalizing. Edward and Emmett immediately stepped down, but not intimidated enough to break the glares.

"Let's go, Bella," Edward said irately, still glaring at Emmett and grabbing the top of my arm. He pulled roughly, but of course it didn't hurt me, but due to the new _terrain_ I slipped. My arms flailed as my feet tried to find friction on the slippery ice to no avail. I closed my eyes as I waited to hit the hard, uncomfortable ground, but it never came.

I peeked through my right eye, waiting to see a bright light, or worse, fire. _Please, God! It's not my fault I was turned into one of the devil's children!_ But I saw something better, much better than a bright light. _Where was this coming from?!_

Edward's eyes ran across my face, stopping on my eyes which were probably wide with shock. I felt a blush creep across my cheeks at the intensity and urgency his eyes held as they stared into mine.

"Are you alright?" he asked somewhat breathlessly. He rearranged his arms so they were no longer around me, but now fixing me to stand up straight. I was immediately saddened at the loss of his touch, and hated myself for feeling sad. I didn't know what had been going on with me these days! I had only met Edward a matter of days ago, and I felt like I was already falling for him! Which is impossible. I had never fallen for a guy in my life, and I wasn't about to fall for someone I barely even knew!

_Not true. In the time span of two days, I've already learned quite a lot about him_. I almost screamed as the thought popped into my head. Even my subconscious is trying to talk me into falling for Edward Cullen!

"Bella?!" Edward's voice, which had become considerably more frantic, pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I just slipped," It didn't seem like he was going to take my word on it as he began searching my face again, his eyes moving down to skim over my body which led into another massive blush attack. I knew he was only concerned as a person, or vampire, who had just witnessed another person, or vampire, slip, and was only checking to make sure said person, or vampire, was not hurt. But for some reason, it felt like more.

"Okay, well. Be more careful," he said abnormally, letting go of me hesitantly, and stood there, watching me to make sure I wouldn't go and fall down again.

"Um, thanks for, you know, saving me..." Edward laughed breathlessly, his fingers running through his bronze hair, making it even wilder than it was before. But I liked it.

"I am most certain that if I had let you fallen, you would have come out unscathed." He flashed one of his prize winning crooked grins at me and I felt my heart melt. Oh, crap! I _am_ falling for Edward Cullen!

*****

I traipsed down the hallway towards the cafeteria, grateful that the day, once again, was coming to an end.

"Bella, wait up!" I knew who the voice belonged to before I even turned around. Alice, a.k.a. short, slightly annoying, eccentric pixie. She skipped gracefully up to me, two freshmen moving out of her way and watching her mysteriously. I turned my attention from them to Alice who was bouncing excitedly in front of me.

"So, Edward took you away," I blushed remembering the way his hand felt around my arm right before I fell on my face in front of him, "before you told us if you were coming over today. You are coming over right?" I nodded, my grin pulling into a smile as she squealed and wrapped her arms around me, too short to reach my neck.

"That's great! I told Esme and Carlisle all about you and they're psyched to meet you, especially Carlisle. He's a doctor so he's all into vampires with weird talents like you!" I blushed and looked down. I had always known my _talents_ were… strange, but I had never really thought of them as _weird_.

Alice's hand came up to cover her mouth as she realized what she said and gasped, "No, I didn't mean it like that Bella! I just meant like how you can blush, and you're clumsy… I'm sorry, please forgive me?!"

"Alice!" I laughed, "Its fine! Calm down! I just wasn't used to my… specialties being called weird. People – vampires are usually astounded by my human characteristics. It's actually kind of nice to have someone think I'm weird rather than a science experiment," she smiled sadly and hugged me.

"Anyways, I'm sorry. I won't call you weird ever again, deal?" I nodded as she grabbed my hand, trailing me through the now crowded cafeteria to our table.

"Hey, Bells!" Emmett called excitedly as we showed up at the table. All the other Cullen's were there already, and the only open seat, besides the one next to Jasper which Alice gradually sat in, encircling herself in Jasper, was next to Edward.

I sat down without a glitch, which I was thankful for. I had already tripped into Edward once; I didn't need to fall on top of him the same day. _Maybe next week._

I cleared my throat like it would help get rid of the nagging voice in the back of my head, which, of course, it didn't.

"So, Bella. Are you going to want to go home first before you come over? Or do you have to hunt or something?" I shook my head.

"No, I hunted last night, just a little. But I should be fine for a few days. I don't need to stop at my house either. Why?" Her eyes flickered over to Edward for a millisecond and he nodded curtly.

"You'll get used to being left out of conversations, Bella," Jasper said, noticing the exchange as well. I smiled as Edward rolled his eyes at his brother, and then turned his attention to me.

"If it's alright, I am going to drive you to our house. I'll follow you to your house after school and you can drop of your car. Our house is complicated to locate. The driveway is hidden exceptionally well by trees and such." I nodded, not even bothering to try out my voice. For some reason – _for obvious reasons_, the annoying voice corrected me – whenever Edward looked at me, I felt breathless, not in a gasping way but in a knock-the-breath-out-of-you kind of way. He was just so damn gorgeous. Easily the most attractive throughout the Cullen coven, the ones I've met, anyway.

His striking boyish but muscular look. The way his hidden muscles would reveal themselves with a slight movement that momentarily tightened his shirt over his stomach and chest, accentuating his strength. Put together with his outrageously Greek-God like features, he was the perfect dream guy. A gentleman with his out-of-this-century speech that tied everything together like a bow ties together a young child's hair…

What if my fantasizing wasn't just in my head?! If I was completely oblivious to everything around me, thinking of Edward, I could easily become the center of attention. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if I was actually _touching _Edward's perfect physique!

If the other thoughts hadn't been enough to bring me back to the present, that one sure was. I snapped back to reality and saw all the Cullen's looking at me with curious looks. I startled and looked around at them, a little overwhelmed that five vampires were staring at me. It didn't take much to set one off, though I was pretty sure _these _vampires were friends.

"Bel_la_?!" Alice's voice cut through the silence at our table and I looked up at her, wondering just how long she had been calling my name. I felt the blush creep up to my cheeks before I heard Emmett's booming laughter. I buried my face in my hands, hoping to fall into an oblivion so I could be embarrassed somewhere else.

"Em, shut up!" Jasper hissed, "She's already embarrassed enough! You're making it worse! Now _I'm_ starting to feel embarrassed!" His laughter died down to a smothered snicker and I could just imagine his hand clamped over his mouth in an attempt to stop the madness.

"Emmett, I would so slap you right now if it wouldn't sound like a rock slide inside the cafeteria!" Rosalie hissed, "Just wait until we get home!" Then she turned to me, an apologetic smile on her flawless face, "I'm sorry Bella. I wish I could say he isn't usually like this, but he is."

"It's alright," I murmured, glaring at the clock on the wall, willing it to move faster. Just ten more minutes of this hellish lunch and I could go to biology, sit next to… Edward, and be done with school for the weekend.

My mood started to brighten as I realized it was Friday. No school for two days! No annoying teachers, no humans, no parading around the building like this was your first time in high school.

"So, is that alright?" Edward asked, looking over at me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure. That's fine." I averted his gaze. The blush had finally left and I was up to having another one from the force of his golden orbs.

"Okay, so…" Alice trailed off and we all looked up to see her eyes glazed over. I was fairly sure I knew what was happening….

Edward leaned closer to me.

"See?" he whispered in my ear, looking at Alice. His cool breath fanned over the side of my face, his intoxicating scent filling my senses. It took all my power to not turn my head and sway closer to the scent.

"This is what happens when Alice _sees the Future_!" I giggled at Edward's pronunciation of the last part. It reminded me of comedy movies, when people would invent time travel. Then full out laughed as his hand traveled across the air, palm side out, in front of us in a showing kind of way.

He smiled widely, showing off all his perfect white teeth. To a human, this would have been intimidating, but to me, a fellow vampire, it was enticing. Unless the reason that it _was_ enticing wasn't just because I was a 'fellow vampire'. If it was something deeper, more meaningful; I didn't want to know. I was already having a rough time sorting out my feelings. I didn't need another complication flooding my subconscious, making me realize these crazy fascinations of Edward.

Alice gasped and Jasper rubbed her back soothingly. She didn't look happy or upset about her vision, so I figured it was a betweenie. One that didn't really matter.

"There blood testing today in biology, so you guys are going to have to skip." Alice said, raising her eyebrows at Edward and I. Jasper's eyebrow lurched upwards as well and I realized Edward had never pulled away from before when he was whispering to me.

"What's been going on over here?" Emmett asked, the sign of a faint smile on his lips that he was trying to hold back.

Edward sat up quickly and became a rigid, rock statue in his seat, glaring at Emmett. He smiled tauntingly at Edward and a low rumbling sound elicited from deep within Edward's chest.

"Guys, come on. I've already had to break you up once." Jasper said sternly. Edward sat back, crossing his arms over his chest and glared out the window while Rose told Emmett to stop.

I looked down, a smile appearing on my face. I had never seen a coven of vampires who fought like actual brothers and sisters. It was exhilarating to see that we could be like normal people, not just the monsters we were created to be.

**Review, please!!**


	7. Desire and Conflict

**I don't own Twilight! Or The Who [btw, best band ever!!! Pete Townshend is my idol!!]**

_Bella POV_

"Favorite song," Edward inquired, holding onto the door of my locker as I put my biology book away. He had started asking trivial questions about my likes and dislikes when we left the cafeteria. The interest and intensity his voice and face held while asking me such questions confused me.

"Why are you so fascinated with my interests?" I asked him, my eyebrow quirked up as I shut my locker door and walked along with him down the hallway to the exit. Something inside of me quivered at the thought that Edward was interested in me, even if it wasn't personal.

"Because I can't read your mind, so I'm trying to understand you better. I've never had to find out about someone by actually _asking_ them, usually I just read their minds to find out what it is I want to know, but with you it's different. Now, favorite song."

I rolled my eyes at him. He smiled down at me, his golden eyes seeming to illuminate, brightening the cloudy day. My breath hitched in my throat at this attempt to dazzle me, more like success at dazzling me. "My Generation," I mumbled incoherently.

"The Who?" he asked, chuckling. I glared at him, the daze wearing off.

"What's wrong with The Who?!" I asked, feigning hurt and outrage. He shrugged.

"I just never really pictured you as a hippie rock type of person," I snorted and he chuckled.

By now, we had reached the cars and I moved towards mine. I was about to open the driver's side door when Edward's hand shot out, holding it open for me. I looked up at him incredulously. It was a wonder that after his… I didn't even know how old he was. But, it was a wonder that living in this time, his properness hadn't worn off. I would have to ask how old he was later.

His eyes slid over to mine with a look of innocence. I shook my head slowly and got into the car, the door was shut behind me with a thump. I turned over to the passenger's side where my bag laid and dug through it to retrieve my keys.

I sat up to put the key in the ignition and felt my dead heart leap. Edward had leaned down, his head now near my window. Our faces were inches apart and I could see every perfect detail on his gorgeous face. Every angled feature, the perfect shapes to his lips and eye brows, the way his jaw squared off flawlessly. Having saved his eyes for last, I looked up into a pair of golden eyes, darkening slightly with flecks of yellow around the pupil. Fringed with long, black lashes, his eyes gazed back into mine and I had the feeling, once again that he was looking past me into my soul.

His cool breath reached my nose and slightly opened lips, and it was like I could taste him in my mouth. His scent swirled through my brain, drugging me with his honey scent. I leaned closer, so close to actually tasting the delicious smell, to feeling his lips moving in synch with mine.

Just another half inch and he was closing the gap quickly when a loud ringing sound interrupted us. Snapping out of the trance, Edward stood up quickly, watching me as he took his phone out of his pocket.

I turned my head so I was looking straight in front of my car.

I felt flustered, confused, startled, shocked, dazed, stunned, overwhelmed…. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror when I turned around. My face was flushed, an intense comparison against my pale skin. I inhaled deeply, shakily and released the breath nosily out of my mouth. _That… was close._

Suddenly, I felt like crying. Whether it be the feeling of rejection that flowed over me or the overwhelming knowledge that I had almost kissed Edward Cullen, he had almost kissed me. _Not rejected_. My subconscious reminded me. _Not rejected. Interrupted._

There was a snapping noise and I looked over to realize that Edward had closed the phone. I watched him despairingly as he returned the phone to his pocket, then looked up at me. I bit my bottom lip, trying to keep in the senseless broken sobs that threatened to take over my body. I had no idea why I felt so miserable. It wasn't like I was just turned down by someone I _love._

Realization hit me hard and I held in a gasp. I was falling for Edward Cullen. Possibly, slightly, in love with him, even. I felt like moaning at this new insight. As if my life wasn't complicated enough.

"Um," Edward ran his hand through his hair, obviously at a loss for words. But for what I wasn't sure. Was it what someone had said on the phone? Was it because he regretted almost kissing me? I would never know.

I wondered momentarily who was on the phone, but I didn't want to ask. Besides. If it was something involving me – though there was no reason that it should – he would surely tell me, right? Right.

"I'll follow you to your house now, I guess. And you can drop off your car." I nodded, acknowledging that I understood and he turned on his heel to the Volvo. I watched him as he got in and turned on the car. I pulled out swiftly, wanting more than anything to be out of the parking lot, out of Edward's view if by chance I happened to break.

_*****_

My mind began to clear as soon as the familiar soothing sounds of my precious Jetta traveling at ninety miles an hour over the paved roads whistled through my ears. Sighing, I leaned into my seat, repositioning myself from the rigid posture I had adopted only mere minutes ago.

My eyes reflexively flickered to the side mirrors to see a silver Volvo zooming close behind. The image, unmoving in my mind, brought on a feeling of delight and content aggravation. I was no longer aggravated with what had happened. I could deal with it now, in the refuge of my car where I was free to show emotion without the knowledge of certain others.

No, I was now aggravated with myself. My feelings and thoughts were all intertwined with Edward. Everything I felt, thought, or did now revolved around Edward, and that scared me. I couldn't sleep, hunt, drive, run, anything without Edward popping into my mind.

I eased into my driveway, parking the car and stood, waiting for Edward. I wasn't waiting for more than a few seconds when his sleek Volvo pulled in next to me. He got out, looking up at my house, admiring it.

I walked up to the front door, bag in hand so I could put it away.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked, looking over at Edward who was looking at the surrounding trees, scrutinizing the layout.

"Do you hunt out here?" he asked, walking up to me with his hands in his jacket pockets. I shook my head, prying open the door. The one bad thing about this house was that it was old, so doors needed a good shove to open, windows needed to be greased. But other than that… it was home.

"No, I usually hunt in the woods a few hours from here. They're secluded and I've never seen – or heard – anyone hiking. I'll be right back; I'm just going to put my bag upstairs." He nodded, looking around. I started up the stairs, but turned, halfway up.

"Um, make yourself at home… you can turn on the T.V., or -"

"Bella. Just go put your bag away." He chuckled, shaking his head. I smiled and continued my way up.

**

Having Edward in my house, in my living room gave me a weird feeling. A mixture of ecstasy and anxiety. I threw the bag on my bed, unmade bed, and looked around. I had finally finished unpacking the last boxes in my room late last night and had only caught a few hours of sleep. That was alright though. I only needed about four and I was wide awake, but I _could_, and usually did, just sleep all night.

A dark blue button-down blouse caught my eye in the corner of my room, hanging on the desk chair. I looked down at my plain white tee-shirt, pulling it out from the bottom. Alice had lectured me on my style in the morning when she saw me in the hallway. _"Don't worry Bella,"_ she had said, her eyes wide with excitement, _"We'll go shopping soon!"_

I nosily blew out of my mouth and pulled off my white shirt and crossed the room, pulling on the blue blouse. At least Alice won't bug me about my outfit as much.

I glided down the stairs and made it to the bottom without tripping on the last step, how? I have no idea.

"Bella, is this…" he trailed off once he turned around and looked down at my new shirt. The way he was looking at me made me self conscious and I felt the blush spreading across my cheeks. His eyes moved from my shirt to my face, and his amber eyes seemed to darken in the slightest.

His eyes locked onto mine and I hurriedly looked away, trying to find something – anything to keep my eyes off Edward's. These past feelings of him being able to look into my soul, I was pretty sure they were true, and if he could look into my soul, it was probably obvious about my infatuation with him.

My eyes caught sight of the picture left hanging in his hand, probably what he was asking about before he… well, I still wasn't really sure what had happened to him. The way he was looking at me… sent tremors coursing through my body, threatening to shake me from the spine up.

The picture was of me and my mom and dad before they… died all those years ago. I could only imagine the questions that would pour out of Edward's mouth about them. If he thought the questions _before_ were interesting….

I crossed the room towards him, the picture pulling me to the two people I missed most in this world. The two people who died because of me….

I reached out my hand to take the picture when our fingers brushed. His gaze snapped down to our hands like he was realizing for the first time that I had moved. He handed the picture frame to me and I put it back on the table behind me. Edward and I were standing close, but Edward stepped forward, bringing us even closer if possible. We weren't yet touching, but I could see his chest rising and falling in a broken rhythm. I didn't even dare look down at mine. My breathing was ragged, flowing in and out of my mouth quickly, I could only imagine how erratically _my_ chest was rising and falling.

"That blue is lovely with your skin complexion," Edward murmured. His eyes flickering down to my shirt again. Another blush took over my cheeks, covering the old one that was beginning to fade. His hand reached out hesitantly. My breathing quickened. If I was a human, I'm sure I would have passed out by now from the lack of oxygen.

The back of his fingers swept across my cheek, a cool burning sensation trailing behind, like being burnt without the pain. My body began to crave his touch as his fingers trailed their way across my cheek, stopping near my jaw. My eyes felt heavy, like Edward's touch was a drug. They kept themselves open though, not wanting to miss a movement of his fingers across my face.

Indecision wavered through his eyes and he finally let go of any resolve he had come to, releasing my senses by dropping his hand to his side. _No…._ My mind reeled, wanting, pleading for his touch. But it never came. He took a step back. Any desire he had had flickering through his eyes and reaching his fingers was now gone as his eyes turned back to their normal amber color, his stature becoming a solid rock.

All the yearning in me was silenced by his subtle, but heart breaking shift in stance.

**Review, please!**


	8. Lullaby

**I don't own Twilight, but I wish I did. =/**

**I just wanted to take this time to give a bug thanks to all my readers and reviewers. Seriously, those reviews keep me going (besides the point that I love writing this story). You guys are all the best! =D**

_Bella POV_

"Bella, do you believe in fate?" I startled at Edward's sudden outburst. We had been riding in an uncomfortable silence since we left my house, the space between us filled with unanswered questions and misunderstandings.

I looked over to see his eyes on my face, awaiting my response.

"I believe things happen for a reason," I answered after a few seconds of gathering my thoughts from my overflowing head. He turned back to the road and I wondered what was going through his mind from my response.

The silence from his mouth brought me to the awareness that he wasn't going to question further.

I watched his statuesque form for a second longer, and then turned my attention back to the trees passing by my window. Edward was so hard to understand. One minute it seemed that he was fond of me, the next like he wanted nothing to do with me. If I didn't know better, I would have said that he was slightly bipolar.

"What are you thinking?" his question, so simple, so basic, yet the tone his voice held made it seem like it was the most important question in the world. For a split second I thought about lifting my shield to show him, but was quickly horrified by that idea. If I lifted my shield, he would learn just how attached I was to him and his more-than-perfect physique. Obsessed, even.

An impatient huff of air caused me to look up at his face which was now sketched with impatience. I almost smiled at the notion that he was irritated because he thought I wasn't going to answer.

"That you're exceptionally hard to understand." I told him truthfully. I had never been a good liar, and if I lied to him and he realized it, he would think it was something much worse than I was actually thinking. But really, the full extent that I was thinking _was_ much worse than that.

The side of his mouth twitched upward like he was going to smile but he held it back. My being easily became disappointed that I wouldn't be able to see another one of his prize-winning crooked grins. It was exhilarating to be able to think these things without trying to think of a quick excuse as to _why _I thought such things. I had slowly accepted the reality that I had, in fact, fallen for Edward Cullen. How far I had fallen for him was still unsure, but it was deep enough that I wouldn't be able to get out easily, if at all. It's like trying to climb out of a hole made of sand, the closer to the top, to your freedom, you get, the more sand falls in, making it impossible to escape.

Except feeling affection for Edward was a little bit of a better feeling than being trapped in a sand hole.

"I'm sorry. I have had a lot of things on my mind lately," he said, the ghost of a smile on his breathtaking face. I shrugged. I also had a lot of things on my mind. Highly unlikely the same things on his mind, but still. Things on my mind.

My eyes traveled along his perfectly straight nose, to the curves of his full lips, up to the bronze mess of his hair. My fingers itched to run through his unruly locks, making them messier, if possible. My gaze continued down to his muscular shoulders and arms, the muscles in his arms flexing with his slight wrist movements. Finally, my eyes traveled to his hands around the steering wheel. His fingers were long, and I imagined them reaching out to my smaller ones, entwining themselves with mine, connecting our bodies through such a simple touch.

My eyes greedily flicked up to his eyes, wanting to take in as much of his golden orbs as possible before he realized I was taking in all his magnificent Adonis glory. They seemed to melt my frozen heart, leaving it with a warm feeling. Dark gold specks swam around in the liquid topaz, and I wished that they would meet my eyes, giving my body that tingly sensation I always got when he looked at me.

Startlingly, embarrassingly my wish came true as his head turned, his alluring topaz orbs gazing into mine. His lips pulled back in a blinding smile, showing all his perfect teeth.

"We're here," snapping out of my dream world, I looked around. To my horror, he was right. The car was parked and off. My mind began reeling. How long had we been sitting here with me taking no notice of the car coming to a stop? More importantly, how long had he noticed I was staring at him?

The chuckle emanating out of his mouth, shaking his body, along with the massive smile plastered on his face confirmed my fears that he had, indeed noticed me staring at him. I huffed, pulling myself together quickly and pushed open the door, much to Edward's dismay.

There was something about taking every opportunity he got to be a gentleman. It was alluring. And the small pout that formed on his face when he missed one was adorable.

The house, more like a mansion, that stood in front of me as I stepped out took my breath away. It was all white and looked like it belonged in an elegant city, not a rainy, green town like Forks.

"It's beautiful," I whispered in awe. Edward nodded, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me up to the door. The smallest of touches left the largest of impressions. His hand burnt against my skin, making me want to beg for more. I hated the way my body craved him, but I loved the way he made me feel.

Walking through the door, I had an irresistible sense of welcoming. The house was large, but cozy at the same time. All the furniture was white, along with the carpet. Normally, this would have been startling, but in the light (as much as there could be in a cloudy area) coming from the pure glass wall, it made the room look luminous.

A pretty woman came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron hung around her neck. I found it weird for her to be wearing an apron, unless they were housing a human here, there would be no need for them to cook or eat.

She smiled sweetly as she gracefully walked up to us.

"Bella, this is Esme, my mother for all intensive purposes. Esme, this is Bella," still smiling, she pulled me into a hug. My dead heart swelled at the motherly touch of her kindness. I hugged her back.

"It's very nice to meet you, Bella," she said, stepping out of our embrace. I had a feeling that the friendly smile on her face was permanently plastered there, showing her loving nature.

"It's nice to meet you too," I smiled back, not being able to help it. The friendliness around her was contagious.

A man who looked about the age of Esme walked down the stairs. The wisdom in his face told me that he was the doctor, therefore Carlisle. He also was smiling politely.

"Hello, Bella." He greeted me, wrapping his arm around Esme.

"Hello," I said, smiling. The grin on my face was not only for the loving sense I got from the Cullen parents, but also for the way their family was united into one. Each had their significant other, except Edward, and together, they made the perfect family. Vampire and human alike.

"This is Carlisle." Edward stated, narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular. I saw Esme smirk out of the corner of my eye and I figured his facial movement was in response to something she had thought.

"Why are you wearing an apron?" Edward asked Esme, giving her a strange look.

"I was baking cookies!" she said excitedly, pointing to the kitchen. Since she mentioned it, a smell of baking dough filled the room. It smelt bad now, but if I was human, it would have made my mouth water. I had always loved when my mom baked cookies, that was about all she could cook without burning something.

"Why?" Edward inquired, his right eyebrow rising in a way that made the light and dark play across his face in a way that should be illegal. I turned my eyes away from him before I was caught staring at him by his own 'parents'. Then, not only would I be caught ogling him, a blush would spread across my cheeks, embarrassing me even more.

I turned my attention back to the problem at hand before my fantasies became reality.

"Uh huh," Edward answered in reply to whatever Esme had said. A smile pulled at the corner of his lips and a quiet giggle came from me, a low laugh from Carlisle. Esme shook her head, laughing silently.

"Well, Bella. I would love to question you and your abilities. But I am sure you would rather Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie be here so you don't have to repeat your story twice?"

"Three times," Edward said quietly. I had already told Edward most of my story via his many questions.

"Please." I said genuinely, smiling.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. How many times have I told you that it's rude to ask people questions on their life unless _they _want to tell _you_?" he smiled sheepishly at Esme's scolding, ducking his head.

Esme shook her head towards me and shrugged in a _what-can-you-do_ type of way. I smiled as she started back to the kitchen to finish her cooking as the timer went off.

Edward took my book from my hands and walked to the table to put it down as I looked around. In the corner off the spacious room, there was a grand piano. It seemed impossibly dark in the white room, but set the balance off nicely.

"Do you play?" Edward asked, catching me looking at the instrument. I shook my head. I had never been able to play any kind of musical instrument in my life, besides the triangle and even that came out immoral.

"Do you?"

"Yes, I play a little. Would you like me to play for you?" he asked, already walking towards the piano. My heart fluttered at the thought of Edward playing for me, even if it wasn't really _for me_. I nodded eagerly, following him to the bench. I sat down on the edge as Edward moved papers off of the stand, leaving it empty.

"Don't you need those to play?" I questioned, motioning towards the sheets he had placed upside down on the piano.

He shook his head.

"Those are for Emmett, even though he can't really play. He likes to pretend he knows how to read the music. I've offered to teach him before, but he told me he already knew how to play, possibly better than myself." He chuckled darkly, sitting on the bench next to me.

My dead heart fluttered at the proximity between us. He slid over so we were practically touching, my leg to his. Though there was at least a foot of bench on the other side of him. I could just picture him in a long suit jacket, flying it out behind him before he sat like pianists usually do when they play for large crowds.

Covertly, I leaned back to look behind him to see that he was not wearing a long enough tailored suit to do said flying out. For some reason, that upset me slightly. I got over it as he began playing.

It was a song I recognized but couldn't name. His long, pale fingers flew expertly across the keys, the toned notes filling the room. As I watched, I thought about 'pianist fingers'. I wasn't sure what they were, but whatever it was, I was sure Edward had them.

A few notes later, and the song changed massively to a more soothing tune. It resembled a lullaby and I would have felt tired if it wasn't for the Greek God sitting next to me, keeping me wide awake.

He smiled over at me.

"You inspired this one," he said softly, his fingers flying over the keys. My eyes felt wet even though I couldn't cry.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, smiling.

_You inspired this one_.

Did that me he thought of me while he played piano?

The soothing notes turned darker in the slightest tone difference, until it came to an abrupt stop. His fingers froze over the notes he stopped on and he stared down at the keys.

"It's not finished," he murmured quietly. Looking up at me, I could see the indecisive look in his eyes about the lullaby. My eyes searched his, his mine like he was looking for his lost notes. He looked away almost as abruptly as the soothing sounds stopped and sighed.

"I love it. Even if it's not finished," I whispered, leaning in and placing a kiss on his cheek.

He smiled at me, swinging his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him.

"I will finish it though." He said in a voice that made me think he was assuring himself more than he was me.

_This_ was how I pictured myself spending the rest of my days. Surrounded by the loving Esme and Carlisle and their five children.

Wrapped in Edward's embrace.

**I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Gah!! I've had so much homework and then work so I really haven't had the time…. =/ But please review. **

**I'm not really sure whether or not I like this chapter…….. please tell me what you think!!!**


	9. Sleeping Arrangements

**I don't own Twilight.**

_Bella POV_

Edward opened the door to his room and stood aside, allowing me to walk in.

"Ladies first," he said, the crooked grin on his attractive face.

I laughed breathlessly as I stepped over the threshold into a bright room. There was a large window in the back, letting in the dusky light of the evening. A black leather couch was pushed against the wall across from an enormous stereo.

I held in a gasp as I saw all the CD's he had on the shelves. I walked over as Edward turned towards his desk which was flooded with papers and books, and scanned across the titles, picking one out.

"Linkin Park?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked up from moving books in a pile and came over to me, taking the music out of my hand. He placed it back to the spot I got it from and turned to me, crossing his arms.

"If you're not going to respect good bands, you can't look at the CD's." A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but he kept it away.

"Hey, I didn't say they weren't good, I was just surprised to see them in your _vast collection of musical compact discs_."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned in so close that our faces were almost touching.

"Fine. You can look at them." He said quietly, his cool breath fanning across my face and making me dizzy. He backed up and I felt my knees giving out as I began to sway in place. His scent was like a drug to my brain. I couldn't live without it, but I couldn't function with it.

His hands reached out and caught me before I fell to the ground, and pulled me up right.

"Hmm," he mumbled, looking up at the ceiling and not at me. "Keeping you from falling is starting to turn into a full time job," he looked down at me now, his golden eyes glowing brightly. All I could do was stare into them, "In all my 117 years, I have never before met a vampire as clumsy as you. Actually, come to think of it, I am almost certain that I have _never_ met a vampire who was less than graceful."

He smirked as a blush came across my cheeks and he bent down, his lips near my ear.

"I don't mind, though. I like catching you," My breath stopped at his words and my eyes slid shut. He let go of me and I could tell he was watching me, waiting for me to come around.

"Bella?" he asked, worry lathering his tone. My eyes flew open and found his. He released a breath that I hadn't noticed he had been holding.

"Are you alright?" I nodded, taking a deep breath and looking around me. I hadn't yet found my voice, and I was pretty much assured I wouldn't be able to think coherently around Edward for a while.

The sound of a car against the driveway interrupted our passionate moment, well passionate to me anyway, and Edward released me making sure I wasn't going to fall again.

"They're back." Edward said. There was something in his voice that made it seem as though he regretted that they were here. He pulled away from me and opened the door.

"Come on," he said, a crooked grin lighting up his gorgeous face, making me feel like I was going to collapse again. "You have many questions awaiting answers."

*****

Three hours later, I knew everything I ever wanted to know about the Cullen's and then some. From Emmett's hilarious stories of the 70's, to Carlisle's horrifyingly disturbing stories of how each Cullen was changed. Edward's transformation story was the last one to be told, and the vivid description Carlisle had told about his startling emerald green eyes along with the horrid pain he had gone through before transformation during the Influenza outbreak sent a pang to my dead heart.

Edward's eyes had fallen shut when Carlisle told me about his mother Elizabeth's dying wish for her son. My hand automatically went to his in an attempt to calm him down. As soon as my fingers touched his, his eyes flew open and gold met gold. At first, his eyes showed a world of hurt and pain but gradually, the longer his gazed into mine, they became softer and turned back to their light gold.

His hand tightened over mine and I squeezed back, letting him know that I was there for him.

That second that had passed between us then had brought our relationship to another level.

The night ended with me telling them all about my life before Forks and before I was a vampire. I had explained to them how my parents had died by being hit by a drunk driver in a fatal accident. They had died instantly, which was good so long as they didn't have to suffer.

Esme gasped when I told her that I was nine and an orphan until my aunt and uncle adopted me after a few months in an orphanage.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat as I was explaining my time without my parents. Edward's thumb started rubbing the back of my hand, which was still entwined in his. His gentle touch meant the world to me, and for the first time since being changed into a vampire, I felt happy. Like God had actually done something nice for me, letting me meet the Cullen's and Edward.

"Bella, it was so nice meeting you and I really hope that you come back soon." Esme said while hugging me. She pulled back and kissed my cheek. I nodded, already knowing that I would be back whether I wanted to or not, which I most definitely did. Carlisle and Esme felt like my own parents. Alice and Rose like my sisters, and Jasper and Emmett like my brothers.

"Don't worry Esme," Alice said, pushing Emmett out of the way who had enveloped me in a bear hug to hug me herself, "She'll be back. We're going shopping together this weekend!"

"Aren't you _so_ excited?" Rosalie asked, smiling at me from Emmett's side. I smiled back, rolling my eyes over Alice's head so she wouldn't see.

Jasper laughed as Edward pulled me out of the door and into the yard by my arm before I was attacked by more hugs. I yawned and Emmett laughed loudly. When they had found out that I slept, they had gone chaotic, shooting questions at me from _how? _to _so you can fall asleep during school?_ To which Rose slapped Emmett over the head.

I said my last good bye's then followed Edward through the darkness to his Volvo. He (of course) opened the door for me and I slid in, resting my head against the head rest. I sighed, watching Edward get into the driver's side.

He pulled something out of his pocket – a cookie – wrapped in a napkin and tossed it into my lap.

"Esme wanted me to give you this," he said, watching as I opened it to reveal a perfectly round sugar cookie.

"Thanks…" I said, not sure what to do with it. I wasn't going to eat it.

Edward let out a loud laugh as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Don't worry; she knows you can't eat it. I think it connects her to the humans in a motherly way that she can't express anymore." I nodded, smiling as I put the cookie in my pocket.

"So… what should I do with it?" he shrugged, turning down the road off of mine. Time always flew whenever I was with Edward. It was a gift and an inconvenience.

"You can probably just throw it away. Or eat it." He smiled over at me as he pulled into my driveway. I laughed, shaking my head and turned in my seat to get my bag.

"What's it like?"

I turned to see Edward staring at me, his eyes searching my face.

"What's what like?" I asked confused. His eyebrows narrowed, leaving an adorable line in the middle of his forehead. I wanted to reach over and smooth it out.

"Sleeping. What's it like to actually get away from the world for a few hours? To not have to listen to the world for a night?" I had never thought about sleeping that way. It was something normal to me.

"It's… nice. When you put it that way." He was still looking at me with that same expression and I began to feel self-conscious. I cleared my throat and turned away, my hand going to the door knob.

"Bella," Edward's velvety voice stopped me and I turned towards him. His face was a mere four inches from mine, and I couldn't help but to watch his lips as they moved, a voice dripping with honey spilling from them.

He had leaned across the arm rest and to an outside viewer, they may have thought we were about to kiss. Something that I was not exactly against.

"Sleep well," his cool breath fanned over my face and I leaned in, wanting more than anything to taste, rather than smell his honey scented breath. His head moved down to mine, and his lips briefly touched the corner of my mouth, but not touching my lips. They lingered on my cheek for a moment longer than was necessary and then he pulled back sooner than I wanted.

Dazed, I got out of the car, shutting the door behind me.

I watched as Edward's silver Volvo sped off into the night.

If today told me anything, it was that mine and Edward's relationship was gradually growing into a different path.

_Edward POV (OMG!!! FINALLY!!!!)_

I stood outside her house, underneath her window, not sure what I was doing. I had planned on hunting, but ended up here.

Okay. So I wanted to be here. Ever since she said that she could sleep, it had intrigued me. She intrigued me.

It was only one in the morning and still pitch black. That didn't matter to me though, with my vampire eyesight, seeing the dark was an advantage. We usually tried to hunt during the night where there was much less a chance of coming across a human. Much less a chance of Jasper coming across a human….

So here I was, standing in the middle of her yard, staring up at her window like some kind of creepy stalker. I walked up to the edge of the house, my legs moving robotically like they were running on a mind of their own.

A bare tree stood against the window, its thick branches twisting up in unconceivable ways, growing above the roof. Gracefully, I started on the lowest branch and standing, walked my way up the trees.

With my vampire grace and agility, I was able to walk on each branch without having to flail my arms out like an idiot. I reached her window and pulled up the wooden handle, the sides squeaking with rust. I flinched, automatically looking towards the bed in the middle of the room for any sign of stirring.

The sight in front of me took my breath away.

Her dark mahogany hair was twisted around her pillow in flowing curls, cascading down near her pale face, illuminated by the moonlight shining through her now open window.

Soundlessly slipping in through the window, I walked up to her bed so I was looking down at her.

She sighed in her sleep, her body twisting amazingly even more in the sheets. My fingers trailed down her cheek on their own accord. I stopped breathing altogether as the side of her head pressed into my palm, now in place of where my fingers were, cupping her cheek.

Jolts of electricity were shooting up my arm, the same as in my car when I dropped her off. My lips felt as though they were on fire as they brushed against her creamy skin, begging for more. My feelings for her had not faded away like I had hoped, but had gradually increased into something I could no longer ignore.

I knew my feelings were not sane just by the way she made me feel. All week, Alice had been giving me looks, blocking her thoughts from me, giving me secret smiles. It had gotten extremely annoying and every time I asked her what she was hiding, she would say, "Oh, you'll see".

As if I didn't already have enough on my plate, now I have to go through my days with the constant thought of what Alice was hiding at the front of my mind.

"Edward,"

My eyes snapped to Bella's face, mortified at possibly being caught in her room uninvited. A wave of relief flushed over my body as I realized she was still asleep, quickly covered by a wave of astonishment as I came to the conclusion that Isabella Swan had just talked in her sleep. Not just talked in her sleep, said _my name_ in her sleep. _I_ was what she was dreaming of.

My dead heart fluttered in excitement and love for the girl lying in the bed below me. Yes. Love. I had swiftly moved into the sense that I was falling madly in love with this girl whom I had met not even two weeks ago. I was well aware that a vampire's feelings towards their "soul mate" came on pretty quickly, gradually increasing until you couldn't hide it anymore but there was one, huge problem.

There was no way _fathomable_ that an angel like her could ever love a monster like myself. I had killed well over one hundred times the amount of humans she had killed, lived with Carlisle and his 'vegetarian' ways, ran away like a coward when I couldn't keep with his diet, killed more humans. In my defense, I had righted the wrongs by killing vile humans. The kind that stalked in the night after innocent children, thinking things unimaginable to sane minds.

I pulled over the rocking chair from the far end of her room and pulled it over to the corner facing her. It creaked slightly as I sat, so I had to stay as still as a statue – which isn't very hard for a vampire.

My name fell from her beautiful lips for the second time, followed by a smile. The chair groaned against the old wooden frame as I leaned forward, trying to get closer to her breathtakingly beautiful face. Trying to listen closer, silently begging her to say my name again.

I realized quickly that I would no longer be able to keep my feelings in any longer. Possibly this is what Alice has been keeping from me.

*****

Three hours later, the first lights of the sun were starting the poke through the night and I figured that if I was going to make it home before anyone saw me jump out her window, now would be the time.

I silently moved the rocking chair back to its original position and walked back to Bella's side. I leaned down, placing a soft kiss to her temple, trailed my thumb across her cheek, and left her room.

The run home was uneventful, unless you count my mind sorting through all of the confusing thoughts I had gone through last night in Bella's room. I had come to a mutual agreement between my mind and heart, which did not often happen, that I would tell her how I felt about her. If not now, then eventually within this school year.

It was only four in the morning, school wouldn't start for another three hours, so I decided to go to the meadow.

I always went to the meadow to think. I was the only one who knew how to get there, so I was allowed to think in privacy, and thoughts… I had a lot of.

**This is seven pages on word!! Longest one yet, I think. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But I have now!! **

**Review, please! =D**


	10. NotSoAbnormal Thoughts

**I don't own Twilight.**

_Bella POV_

The annoying beeping sound of my alarm woke me up. I groaned, slamming down on the snooze button. I looked out the window to my right and saw the ever present layer of clouds covering the sun. For a second, I pulled my blankets closer around me and covered my head with my pillow. It was days like these that I wondered why I had ever decided to attend high school.

Ten minutes later, I got up and dressed. I ran down the stairs, knowing that if I didn't hurry, I would be late. _Good thing I don't have to eat breakfast_. My throat started burning at that thought as I realized that I hadn't hunted in two days. I usually tried to hunt every night when I had school, but seeing as I was at the Cullen's last night….

I grabbed my bag off the counter and was on my way down the steps when I saw a sliver of silver out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw a silver Volvo in my driveway. Edward leaning against it. I was momentarily confused; I hated heard him pull into the driveway.

That confusion was taken over by another one. _What was he doing here?_ I came closer to him and the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile; my dead heart jumped.

"Would you like to ride with me today?" I pursed my lips. I had never not driven my Jetta anywhere.

"Sure."

He smiled wider then moved to the side, opening the passenger door for me. As soon as I was in, he was in the driver's side. I gaped at him and he started laughing.

"How are you so fast?!"

"I don't know," he shrugged, driving down the road at an unimaginable speed, "I've always been the fastest in my family."

He shrugged it off as if he hadn't just made it to the other side of the car in less than a millisecond. _Without tripping_. I glared out the window. How is it fair at all that he can do that and I can't even walk across a flat surface without tripping at least once?

"What are you thinking?" I looked over to see Edward staring intently at me. I felt prone to telling the truth by the way he was looking at me, golden eyes melting into mine. His velvety voice was, if possible, even softer, like it was dripping honey.

"That I can't walk across a flat surface without tripping," I closed my eyes with a grimace, trying to get the vision of his honey eyes gazing into mine out of my head. I hated how the truth just spilled out of me when he looked at me like that. Not that I didn't like him looking at me like that….

The car was suddenly filled with his loud laughter as he pulled into the school parking lot. Students hanging around their cars stared as he pulled into his spot. Across the lot, I saw Jessica gawking at Edward obsessively, and a pang of jealousy took over my being. I had to work hard to keep in the growl that was threatening to escape.

Edward's laughter started to die down, and he opened his door. I opened mine before he could, which earned me a glare. I stuck my tongue out at him and I heard his sharp intake of breath. His eyes widened and he was suddenly busy with getting our bags out from the backseat.

Bewilderment took over my being. This is why I would never tell him how I felt. I would never know how he would react. One minute he's laughing, the next brooding. He was so puzzling and mysterious. I bit my lip as I watch his muscles flexing under his black button-down shirt, opened and revealing a plain white tee shirt underneath.

_And sexy_.

I blushed at my thought, even though no one could hear it. I automatically felt like laughing for blushing and quickly looked up. I was relieved to see that Edward had not noticed my blush. I could only imagine what would run through his mind as the reason for my blush.

He walked around the car and handed me my bag. I thanked him and slung the strap over my shoulder and it hung down around my waist, swaying as I walked. My body stiffened as Edward slung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. But as quickly as it stiffened, it relaxed and I leaned closer into him.

Indiscreetly, I took in his smell through my nose, closing my eyes. He smelt of honey, lilac, and sun. I momentarily wondered what sun actually smelt like until I remembered a very important question I had to ask Edward.

"Why were you laughing?" He looked down at me, surprised.

"In the car?" I nodded and he smiled. I thought he was about to laugh again so I started to unravel out of his hold. He gripped me tighter, pulling me closer as he chuckled.

"When you said that you were upset that you couldn't walk across a flat surface without tripping?" I nodded condescendingly. He let out a quiet laugh and I glared at him.

"I was just wondering. Did you _just_ realize that? Because from the first time you tripped, up to the next about one hundred?" he smiled down at me mockingly, "_I _already knew that you were the most clumsy vampire I have ever met."

I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, Edward." He shrugged.

"You asked. So I told you the answer. I am sorry, though. If I offended you." I laughed and shook my head.

A red BMW pulled up to the spot next to Edward's and Emmett's head poked out of the window.

"Hey, guys! Oh, thanks for totally ditching us this morning Edward! You're not the only one that likes Bella, you know!" I laughed at that and Edward looked down, the hint of a smile on his face.

"Emmett. Shut up." Rosalie stepped out of the car and I understood the reason all the guys in the parking lot were looking at her with lust-filled eyes. She was like a model. She could be a model. Emmett didn't seem bothered by the looks the boys were giving her as he swung his arm across her shoulder. It almost seemed as though he liked the thought of other people wanting his wife. Knowing Emmett, he probably _did_ like that thought. He could definitely seize up any man in this parking lot. Expect, of course Edward and Jasper.

Alice hugged me as Jasper held her bag.

"Sorry, Bella. We can't go shopping this weekend because it's going to be sunny," I tried to look genuinely saddened for her sake.

"But, we'll just go next week!" she instantly perked up and I couldn't help but to smile. She got excited over the smallest things.

*****

Walking into the building, I couldn't help but to reflect on everyone's relationships. Emmett and Rosalie were obviously in love, and like to express that. But they were very different. Emmett is loud, obnoxious even whereas Rose is quiet, unnerving, serious. Jasper and Alice too loved each other very much, but they didn't express it much. When they did, it was always secret glances they had for each other. When they looked at their significant other, you felt like you were invading on their privacy and had to look away. Not to mention Alice was hyper. _Over_-hyper. Jasper was extremely reserved. I don't think I've even had a whole conversation with him since I met the Cullen's. Just small talk.

Esme and Carlisle, on the other hand, were so much alike, it was a wonder they hadn't fallen in love during their human years. Given that Carlisle is about two hundred or so years older. They were both caring, loving, and nurturing at heart. Carlisle as a doctor, Esme with her natural motherly instincts.

Then there was Edward. Alone. Alice had told me that before he had met me, he was always in a state they she couldn't call depression, just un-knowing. He had thought that all their was to life now that he is a vampire is just killing innocent creatures of the day and lugging himself to school every day. I had blushed when Rosalie piped in with _"That has all changed now that he's met you, Bella_".

They had both started giggling uncontrollably at my blush. Apparently, they both knew that I liked him. I had momentarily started freaking out that Edward knew, but when I voiced my concern, Rosalie had snorted, Alice laughing harder.

"_Seriously, Bella," _She said, trying to keep the smile off her face, _"he wouldn't know love if it slapped him in the face!"_

I smiled now, thinking back to that conversation. It had been one of the many times that Alice and Rosalie had come over to my house to rearrange my clothes. Once Emmett had tagged along. He thought that it was fun to see the blush spread across my face every time he held up one of my bras and made a comment about how Edward would be _"sorry he missed this,"_.

Rosalie wouldn't let him come back whenever they were going through my clothes because he was too much of a distraction.

"Bella!" I was brought out of my thoughts, harshly back into reality by none other than Jessica Stanley, her curly hair flowed out around her face.

"Sorry, what?"

She huffed angrily. Obviously she wasn't used to be unnoticed.

"I _said_, so are you and Edward Cullen, like, a _thing_ now? Or is he still free game?" she sneered at me as my eyes narrowed and I instantly caught on to the hatred she had towards me. Jasper had told me all about Jessica's scams to 'get' Edward for herself, and that every time he turned her down, she was sure he was playing hard to get. _"Seriously, Bella," _he had said, his eyes widening, _"I was thinking of just killing her right then! Her emotions were all out of balance, flying everywhere! I couldn't take it!"_.

I thought about telling her that we were dating, but I didn't need _that_ going around school to Edward. Now _that_ would be an awkward conversation.

"Um, no. We're not dating or anything," she cocked her eyebrow like she thought I was lying. _I wish I were._

"Huh. Well that's not what it looked like this morning…" she turned to the front of the class after muttering out the last part. What did that mean? We hadn't done anything this morning. Except when Edward put his arm around me….

I suppressed the shiver that threatened to run down my spine as I thought about his arm around me. It had felt so _right_. Like that's exactly where I belonged, wrapped up in Edward.

I let it go as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. We had a half day today due to parent/teacher conferences, which meant I only had biology and… gym left. I groaned. I had skipped gym once this year already; it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to go for a second this early in the school year, but still. I hated gym so much.

I walked into Mr. Banner's class, late I realized with a grimace. Not late exactly, the bell hadn't rung yet, but late enough that everyone watched me as I walked to my seat. Mike Newton smiled at me from his seat in the front as I walked by, so I politely smiled back at him. I hadn't seen or heard from him all day, for which I was grateful. I hadn't gone to his 'beach party' the other day and I wasn't sure whether or not he would be upset about that.

It didn't seem as though Mike was angry, but the look Edward had on his face told me that _he_ was. I sat down, and was grateful that everyone was still talking to each other, wrapped up in their own conversations.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down in my seat next to him. He was glaring at the front of the room, and I couldn't help but to think that he looked exceptionally… attractive when he glared. Alright. He looked down right sexy, but I wasn't about to say that.

He looked over at me, his eyes softening slightly, then back towards the front of the room. On closer inspection, I realized that he wasn't just looking towards the front, he was glaring at Mike. I looked at Mike, too but it didn't seem like he was doing anything offensive towards Edward. Then I realized, it was probably something he was thinking.

"What is he thinking?" I asked, sighing. Edward shook his head, his arms crossed. I noticed that his bronze hair was extremely messy today, like he didn't even try to make it sit right on his head. I liked it, though. It was unkempt in a 'sex hair' type of way. It made him look even sexier than he usually does.

I gasped out loud, and then turned my head down towards my book. What the hell was going on with me today? Why am I all the suddenly, okay, not so all-of-the-sudden, seeing Edward as sexy?! What happened to attractive, beautiful, gorgeous?! Not that he wasn't all of those things and more….

"That Mike Newton has the most vile thoughts. Thoughts that a gentleman should _never_ have about a lady. Well, obviously he is not a gentleman." I smiled slightly, listening to Edward rant on about Mike's thoughts. I could only imagine what he was actually thinking.

*****

I thanked the heavens as the bell rang, signaling the end of school. The end of the day. I practically ran out of the locker room, quickly apologizing to the two new victims of my tennis racket. At first, I wasn't even going to change. Just go home in my sweaty, smelly gym clothes until I remembered I had ridden here with Edward.

I walked out the door, very nearly crashing into someone. I started to fall, of course, and threw my hands out behind me to catch my fall when someone's arms wrapped around me. I could automatically tell that it was Edward who had caught me just by the feel his touches gave me.

He was smiling like a maniac as he righted me.

"I'm sorry," I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. It's just your genes," he muttered as he grabbed my hand away from my forehead, checking for wounds.

"Edward!" I whined, taking back my hand, "I'm a vampire for God's Sake! I can't get hurt!" He pressed his lips firmly together, trying to hold back a smile.

"Mhmm. But you know. I also thought that it was impossible for a vampire to trip over nothing, sleep, and blush. But you seem to be living proof of the truth." His fingers picked up a strand of hair that had flown into my face and tucked it behind my ear.

My breathing started becoming heavier, and eventually I just stopped breathing all together, tired of trying to catch it.

"Come on. We should get you home." I followed him back to his car and got in as he opened the door for me.

He pulled out of the parking lot and I pulled down the mirror. My eyes were a very dark gold, but not exactly black. I groaned, shutting the reflection.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked, looking over at me.

"A girl in my French class asked me today if I had gotten contacts. I need to hunt," I pouted, looking out the window.

The car came to a stop in a deserted grassy area, surrounded by trees. I looked around confused, then looked at Edward. He was turned towards me, watching me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, talking about the car being parked.

"You said you had to hunt." He shrugged, opening his door.

"So I figured I'd come. I haven't hunted in a few days either." I looked at his eyes.

"But, your eyes aren't very dark." he smiled at me.

"That's because I'm older than you, so I can go longer without blood." I nodded, it made sense.

"So, come on." He got out and I followed suit. I had never hunted with anyone before, and I wasn't sure what to do. It was so easy when you hunted alone. Now, I had to share the animals I smelt and I wouldn't even be in full control of my senses.

As we started running, Edward looked over at me and smiled. All my worries slipped away as the wind flew through my hair, momentarily dissolving my doubts.

*****

I walked back to the small clearing where Edward was waiting for me. My dead heart skipped at the sight of his pale skin sparkling in the short ray of light, being let in by the opening in the trees above. I looked up, watching the particles filter around in the beam, down to the part of his chest showing from his shirt which, I noticed, he had unbuttoned the top three buttons.

Habitually, my teeth nibbled on my lip as I glanced indiscreetly at his exposed skin. My fingers itched to feel the smooth marble look to it, and just the thought of my fingers grazing his chest sent shivers down my spine.

"Bella," his velvety soft voice traveled to my ears, making my attention snap to him.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his voice just a little above a whisper. I nodded, walking to him. A wide smile appeared across his face and a carefree chuckle came from his mouth.

"What?" I asked hesitantly, an irrevocable smile making its way to my lips.

"You have something on your face," my hand automatically went up to my cheek, intending to wipe off whatever it was when Edward's hand reached out and stopped me. His hand took place of where mine was going and cupped my chin as his thumb swept across my lower lip.

My eyes trailed up to meet his golden ones and he smiled his crooked smile. He took back his hand, and licking the blood from my lip off his thumb, took my hand and walked back to the car, a comfortable silence hanging between us.

I had never felt anything like this. Sure, I've had my fair share of crushes, but nothing like the feelings I felt for Edward.

**Yay! Next chapter! Don't worry, the next chapter is the Meadow scene and you know what that means!!!! PROCLAMATIONSSSS!!! ------- I couldn't remember the word, so that's the closest one that came to mind DX**

**R E V I E W P L E A S E ! !**


	11. The Meadow

**For the eleventh time, I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT. XD**

**{::unless I haven't written this on all of the chapters, which I'm pretty sure I have::}**

**I've decided to use a new setup of my chapters just because I've gotten bored writing it like I usually do. Just in case you wanted to know ;)**

_The Meadow_

_Bella POV_

Morning had come deathly early as the earsplitting sounds of _beep_ came pouring out of the electronic device beside my bed. I peered out from behind my drowsy lid at the clock, willing it to shut off on its own, but of course it didn't. Indolently, I stretched my hand out and pulled out the plug, turning the clock off all together. Groaning, I laid back down, wishing that school would miraculously be called off for the day.

I sat up, looking around my room in complete sleep. I hadn't slept much last night. I kept waking up, thinking someone was in my room. It was one of those feelings that someone is watching you. Not only that, last night was the first time I had dreamt of Edward Cullen.

I had daydreamed of him many times, but this was the first time he had actually visited me in my dreams.

It hadn't been anything big. I was watching his dream-self as he walked through the woods, watching his graceful leaps across large tree vines. My hand reached out, trying to get to him; to touch him, when he turned to me. His golden orbs drove into mine, and I soon found myself falling, staring into his eyes.

I woke with a start in the middle of the night, the fall feeling so real. Dazed, I had laid back down. That's when I felt it. The overwhelming sense of being watched. Automatically, my eyes flickered to my window; like my conscious was trying to tell me something I wasn't seeing. The window was closed, branches of the tall tree scraping against it.

Falling back asleep, I was quickly developed into the dream again, still falling.

My hand flew up to my forehead as I made my way to the bathroom. I had dreamt about _Edward Cullen_. How was I going to keep myself sane for a whole class with him, the dream in the back of my head. With his heightened senses, he would be able to recognize something going on. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew that I dreamed about him. If Alice had somehow seen something about my dream, would she keep it to herself? I don't think I would have to worry about _her_ embarrassing me. Emmett on the other hand…

I shook off my last thought about the dream as I walked out of the house, almost crashing into a person standing outside my door. I look up, surprised as cold hands reached out, grabbing me before I fell onto the steps.

Gold met gold as I looked up into the eyes of the one and only Edward Cullen. He looked almost as surprised as me as he steadied me and swiftly let go. I found my body craving his touch the moment he let go and it took all the will power I had to not lean into him.

"Bella! I was just about to knock on your door…" I looked past him and saw and unfamiliar dark blue Mercedes resting in my driveway.

"I, I was just heading out to my car..." I trailed off as a ray of light shot through a cloud, immersing Edward's hand in a bright light, making his skin sparkle. He noticed at the same time as I did as he shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, pushing me backwards as he walked us further into the shade of the porch.

My breathing hitched up a notch as his body pushed against my smaller frame, trying to keep us in the most shade possible. There wasn't a lot of sun showing through, just in a little spot on the stairs and a brightened scrap of grass, but I wasn't about to complain.

His honey fragrant drifted from his body to my nose, sending my brain into a daze.

"Bella?"

"What?" I asked. I realized from his short chuckle that I had completely missed whatever it was he had just said. Mentally, I slapped myself for making it so recklessly obvious that I had been paying more attention to his body and scent surrounding mine than what he had actually came here for.

"I said: We can't go to school today. Alice saw multiple sprouts of sun throughout the entire day."

My mouth formed an 'O' as I craned my neck up to look past him at the shield of clouds that were uncharacteristically moving, allowing rays from an obscure sun to fall down upon the tiny town of Forks.

"Oh…" I trailed off, not sure what I was going to do with my day now. It seemed just minutes ago I was begging for a cancelation of school, but now that I actually had one I didn't know what to do. All of the sudden, my diminutive day seemed like it was about to stretch on for weeks. I could always hunt again…

"If you would like to, I am going for a walk in the woods. I would love for you to accompany me,"

The small curvatures of his voice almost made it sound as if he was hopeful of my answer, but I knew I couldn't allow myself to be eager. A walk meant close to nothing. How many times had I taken walks through woods with friends when I was human? Given, there weren't many walks in the _woods_, but the intent was clear.

"I'd love to," He smiled that deliciously crooked smile down at me and turned to the new car in my driveway.

"I had to take Esme's car today because my Volvo's windows are not tinted enough."

I studied the windows as I followed him to the car and realized that they were darkly tinted. I wanted to reach out and feel them, to see if it was a joke. If they were really just painted over with black paint, but the car looked expensive – _is_ _expensive_ – and I wouldn't want to be the cause of a scratch or smudge on a other wisely flawless vehicle.

He opened the passenger side door and looked at me expectantly.

"I thought we were going for a walk…" I trailed off as Edward's beautiful soft laugh hit my ears. He motioned for me to get in the car and I did as I was told, sliding in.

"Silly Bella. We are, but we must drive to the correct destination where the trail begins."

"Oh. Well you didn't say that," I snapped, crossing my arms. I hated when people made me feel stupid.

Edward just laughed again as he turned on the radio and began racing down the street to wherever this trail began.

I watched the houses as they paced at an unbelievable speed from the highly tinted window. The random moments of sunlight reflected off the tinted glass, not permeating through to make our skin sparkle. It was kind of depressing. Edward looked unbelievably gorgeous in the sun. All of his already perfect features were illuminated by the sharp contrast of the bright light against his pale skin, the sparkling effect taking away my breath. I couldn't wait until I was one day able to see him in the pure sunlight –

"What are you thinking about?" Edward's soft, but annoyed voice broke through my intriguing thoughts.

I looked over at Edward and noticed his jaw was clenched. I held in a laugh as I realized that it tensed him when he couldn't read my mind. Though I didn't like seeing Edward at unease, I was immensely grateful for my shield. The things I thought about him throughout the day were most likely not the ways he thought about me.

"That it's a good thing these windows are highly tinted," I mumbled as yet another strand of light bounced off the window and off onto a tree branch.

"Bella," Edward moaned. He turned his head so his eyes were pleadingly scalding mine.

"That's what I was thinking," I said, trying not to let the force of his golden orbs get to me. My voice was masked in slight confusion at the unbearable pleads his voice held. I always told him what I was thinking when he asked…

"But that is not all you are thinking. You have been staring out the window for the past five minutes. The tinted windows were not the only things that you had going through your mind. You never tell me exactly what you are thinking."

I gaped at him and his little rant.

"I always tell you what I'm thinking!" I argued, a little shocked at his sudden outburst. As long as I've known Edward, I've never known him as one to tell what they were truly feeling.

"Yes, but you edit. And that is what annoys me the most; that I cannot just probe your mind to see what you are _really_ thinking."

"You don't want to know what I'm really thinking," I muttered, turning from Edward's intense gaze back to the window, willing myself to not tell him about how much I think about him.

He fell silent for the rest of the drive and I relieved my puzzled mind by letting the soothing sounds coming from the radio seep into my brain, taking all the room I had upfront for unsolved thoughts.

Ten minutes later, we pulled into a deserted dirt road and parked in front of a large tree in dire need of a trimming. Edward stepped out of the car, and this time, I waited for him to open my door. I could tell by his silence that he was still aggravated with my response to his accusation, so I figured I would give him the sense of being a gentleman he loved to flaunt.

As I suspected, his clenched jaw turned into a breathtaking crooked smile as he pulled open my door, holding his hand out for me to take. I took it, getting up from the seat with little hesitation. He let go of my hand and turned towards the woods.

I unzipped my sweatshirt, tossing back into the car as the heat of the day flounced on my skin. Since I blushed, my skin wasn't as cold as a normal vampires'. It made me feel more human. Plus, I loved the cold electricity that flowed through my senses whenever Edward touched me.

I turned back to Edward, waiting for him to start leading the way. Hopefully, the walk wasn't very long. As he already figured out, I wasn't exactly coordinated, and me walking through an area filled with hidden roots and rocks was not a very good idea for my balance. He had better be ready to catch me.

"Edward…" my voice trailed off as he turned to me. He had unbuttoned his white shirt so his stomach and chest were visible. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes trailed over his pronounced abs. My fingers itched to stroke over his chest and stomach; to feel his muscles flex underneath my hands.

"We can go in over here," he pointed to a spot in front of him and I trained my eyes to see the apparent path he was pointing at.

"I don't see…" I trailed off once again as he moved closer to the slight opening between the trees where he had pointed.

"We're not following a path, are we?" He smiled at me sheepishly as he walked past the first tree.

"Edward! Are you serious?!"

"Bella, come on. You will be fine," he watched me as I walked over to him, glaring at the intruding rocks and sticks in my way.

"Fine," I huffed as I reached him, grabbing onto his arm as I began to lean sideways from stepping on a rock, "But you better be ready to catch me."

"Bella," his eyes sparkled as they gazed into mine, turning my brain into a pile of honey-scented goo, "I have told you before. I will always catch you."

I looked away, embarrassment shown by the blush creating on my cheeks. He took my hand as he began to guide me through the forest.

Two hours later, I had lost the willpower to continue the long trek through the woods and I stopped walking. Edward turned around, having been walking five yards ahead of me, without tripping or falling once, might I add, and laughed at my expression.

"Edward," I whined, my shoulders slouching forward. Of course, Edward didn't have to sleep, so the tiredness never got to him, unlike me who was ready to fall flat on her face.

"Bella," he mocked, walking to me, "do you want to run instead?"

I thought it over for a second. If I ran, it would tire me out more, but at least we would get to this secret place faster. Speaking of secret places…

"Edward? Where the heck are we going?" his lips pulled up into a glorious smile as he stepped over a thick root sticking out of the ground. I found it very unfair that he didn't even have to look down to know it was there.

"It took you long enough to ask, Isabella. It's a meadow. I go there to think. You are the first person I have ever showed it to. Given Alice has seen it numerous times in visions,"

I must admit, I was intrigued to see this meadow that he claims is secretive, but I was still way too tired to hike another hour.

Edward sighed, apparently having seen the repulsion cross across my features and grabbed onto my arm, tugging it forward slightly. My body stumbled forward as his cold grip sent electric shocks through my body. Though I was so used to this reaction, my breath still caught in my throat and I found myself momentarily wondering if Edward would cease to affect my being.

The next sentence that came out of his mouth told me that indeed no, Edward would _never_ cease to affect my being.

"Come on, get on." _Get on? Get on where? His back?!_ My inner thoughts shouted out in shock as he pulled my arm again, lifting me off the ground and sweeping me across his back.

He pulled my arms around his neck, clasping my hands together so they would take hold, then moved to my legs, hooking them up and around his waist.

"Edward, you don't have to do this. I can walk," Edward snorted and my limbs tightened around him in response.

"Yes, but can you walk without falling over from exhaustion?" I pursed my lips. He had me there.

"Thought so. Anyways, it's not like you are heavy and I don't mind…" he took off then at a run, not as fast as he could go, but still a quicker pace than walk. I buried my face into his back, discreetly taking in his wonderful scent.

I shut my eyes, loving the feel of the world flying past us at incredible speeds, leaving the world in a carefree whirl of colored blurs.

*****

Forlornly, the pace slowed and I felt myself being slid off Edward's back. I cracked open an eye and was brought face to face with Edward. He smiled, letting go of me when he was sure I wouldn't fall over.

I had to admit. The ride was short, but arousing. The energy had seeped back into my body during the run and my senses were once again heightened as I looked around at my surroundings.

Apparently, my response was exactly what Edward was looking for based on the smile plastered on his face as I gasped loudly. The whole meadow was covered in lush green grass, filled in spots with different colored flowers, and complete with the sound of running water somewhere off in the distance.

A constant strand of light filled most of the meadow, alleviating the entire clearing with a thin layer of sun.

I looked over at Edward, my mouth still open. He nodded, and I walked further into the opening.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, watching as the wind played with the grass and flowers, sending them into gratifying directions.

"Yes. I know," I looked up to see Edward's eyes on me. Classic cheesy moment. I would have laughed at how cliché it sounded had it not been for the truth to his words as his skin sparkled with the rays of sun. I gazed at him admiringly, knowing that even when my skin was sparkling, which it was doing right now, it would be nothing compared to Edward.

He laid back in the grass, motioning for me to follow him. I did, sitting next to his resting form. His eyes were closed, revealing the light lavender color that was his eyelids, heightened by the darkened colors beneath his eyes. The bronze mess atop his head was being blown by the light wind, the golden specks of his hair shining against the darker bronze.

His long fingers brushed against the material of my jeans by my ankle, and the increasingly growing need to touch him overcame the resolve as my fingers hesitantly traced the light blue veins of his wrist apparent through his translucent skin, showing signs that he was once human. My finger traced up further, following the delicate vein up to the crease in his elbow, back down to his wrist.

My eyes traced my finger's pattern, reveling in the feel of his smooth, cold skin beneath my warmer one.

My eyes flickered up to his closed ones, my fingers following shortly. They rested down on the bruised coloring under his left eye. His eyelids flickered open quickly, gold meeting gold. His passed on meanings that mine tried desperately to understand. The lavender lids fell over, covering his golden orbs from mine and my fingers went back to tracing his features.

From his eyes, they trailed down the line of his jaw, feeling the strong bone clench. My finger switched over to the perfect angle of his nose, slowly tracing down its perfectly straight angle, reaching the skin above his top lip.

I reveled in the realization that I would finally, in some way, be able to know the feel of his lips against my skin. Not against my lips, like I had always secretly hoped for, but good enough.

The tip of my finger tingled as it made contact with his smooth lip, making my own lips tingle with the contemplation of touching his. I traced the outer edges of his full lips, when my name was murmured between them, sending an exquisite vibration through my hand.

His hand reached out, snatching my small one in his large, pale one. He looked up at me from his resting position, his golden eyes once again searing into mine. This time, I couldn't look away as my gaze captured the perfection that was Edward and I found myself being drawn to him.

His other hand reached up, cupping my cheek while his thumb traced over my bottom lip. My eyes slid closed as he did, letting the feel of his cold, gentle, soft hands take over my senses, indulging me in everything that was Edward.

"Bella," Edward's quiet velvet voice pulled my eyelids up and I looked over at him, his body now in a sitting position across from mine. The back of his hand caressed my cheek in a swift sweeping motion. His eyes were full of troubles, clouded by suffering.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked softly, lacing my fingers through the hand that wasn't on my cheek.

"What's wrong is that I could never be good enough to deserve you, no matter how hard I try," his openness surprised me, but his words shocked me. _He_ didn't deserve _me_?

"I see it the other way around," I breathed, allowing my body to lean forward in the slightest, closer to Edward's glorious scent.

"Isabella. _You_ deserve _me_ a million times over. It is _I_ who does not deserve _you_. You're an angel, sent from the lowest person out there; flaunting to me something I cannot have, no matter how much I desire her."

I thought Edward's declaration of his _desire_ for me would surprise me, but in all truths, I felt like I had known all along but was too naïve to understand fully.

"But, what if the person you desire desires you back. Doesn't that give them the right to deserve each other?" Edward's eyes flickered from mine to our entwined hands, like he was pondering what I had said.

"That depends," he said after a minute of silence, his gaze flickering back up to mine, a new hope arriving in his eyes.

"Depends on what?" my voice was uncertain, my mind not sure if I had won over Edward's resolve or not.

"On whether or not _you_ are the one reciprocating that desire."

I felt my world give out around me at Edward's irresistible words, changing our whole resolve of each other as I whispered my answer to his question put in the form of a statement.

"Yes."

"Yes what, Bella?" he voice pleaded with me, trying to get me to say the words that would set us on a whole new course.

"Yes, I am the one reciprocating your _desire_, as you put it."

"As I put it. Would you like me to use _love_… instead?" My breath hitched in my throat at the L word. _Love_.

Here we were. Having plans to go for a walk through the woods, and end up declaring ourselves to each other.

"Bella. Do you love me?" Normally, I would have blushed at being put on the spot like this, but the answer was already rolling off my tongue before Edward even asked.

"Yes." I breathed, Edward's hand froze against mine and I had a split second panic attack, wondering if he was somehow hoping I didn't love him, until one of his famous crooked smiles pulled up a side of his face.

"Good. Because I love you, too." I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding at his announcement and couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips.

Edward's eyes looked into mine with a new purpose as he rose, pulling me to my feet.

"The sun is going to set soon. I should get you home."

I nodded, still dazed by the abrupt turn out conversation had taken. Still stunned by our rather sudden declarations. Still perplexed that the beautiful being in front of me somehow shared the same feelings I did towards him.

Love. It felt so carefree now to think it, when before it was surrounded and covered by lies.

_Friendly love._

_I didn't mean it._

_It was a careless slip._

_I'm just confused._

All lies.

My hand was still in Edward's as he pulled me to the edge of the meadow, close to the last shine of light left in the atmosphere from the now darkening sky.

Edward turned to look at me and something wavered through his eyes.

"There is something I have wanted to do for a while," he whispered before placing both his hands on either side of my face. He leaned in slowly then stopped, his eyes gazing into mine, letting me know that he would stop if I wanted him to.

Of course, I didn't want him to. How many times had I dreamt of this moment? Feeling his lips on mine…

He leaned down until our faces were less than a half inch apart and then, shifting his movements, his lips touched down on my cheek lightly. They lifted slightly, and I realized that if I just reached up, I would have a perfect chance to his lips, but I waited.

My eyes slid shut as his lips pressed lightly onto mine. They stayed there, unmoving for a mere second before he pressed them down more firmly, capturing my lips in a loving kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck, my fingers finding their way into his hair.

"You have no idea how much I love you, Isabella Marie Swan." He murmured against my lips. He pulled back, placing a kiss to my forehead before resting his forehead against mine.

"Not as long as I've loved you," I said, smiling, looking up into his eyes. He playfully glared down at me, the hint of a smile gracing his features.

"I am almost positive that that is impossible."

I laughed as he stood up straight, swinging me over his back once again.

**Well, there you go! Everything is out in the open now!! And don't worry if the kiss was short and chaste. It was their first kiss and Edward was leading so you know…. Lol. **

**Review, please!! =D **

**They give me inspiration to write another chapter!!**


	12. The Journey Back

**I don't own Twilight!! =O**

_Bella POV_

The car was filled with a comfortable silence on the ride home, though soft sounds played from the radio. The rapidly darkening sky was lit up by the crescent moon, shining high in the night, illuminating certain shapes in eerie comparison to what they actually were.

Since our "hike" back from the meadow – which only took an hour due to Edward's running – my entire body felt whole. Like there were pieces of my heart missing that I hadn't realized until I gained them; until Edward gave them to me, molding my heart to its full shape.

My gaze drifted to our entwined hands resting on my seat, Edward's thumb absentmindedly stroking the back of my hand, sending a wave of heat through my body with each stroke. His eyes were trained on the road as his foot edged on the gas pedal, pushing the cars limit to one hundred.

Edward's head turned, his eyes meeting mine and sparkling in the moonlight as his face lit up as a grin took over his features, showing all his perfectly white teeth. I smiled back, not being able to hold back the emotions that forced my muscles into a smile at the sight of Edward.

I had always seen people who were in love, in life and in movies, but I had never even dreamed that it would feel like this. I had always thought people were imagining it, thinking that an emotion like love could never be expressed so highly. But evidently I was wrong.

Edward lifted our joined hands to his lips and kissed each of my fingers individually, turning my insides into flurries of butterflies. I bit my bottom lip as the nearly unbearable yearn to kiss him took over my body, throwing me into a spiral of incoherent thoughts.

I wondered briefly if Edward's lure would ever cease to send my body into a jungle of chaos, but as soon as the thought was in my head, I almost laughed aloud. Of course it wouldn't. He was perfect and somehow seemed to get more so with every passing second.

****

An hour later, I was sitting on my bed, anxiously awaiting Edward's return. There was an unspoken agreement that he would stay, but first had to drop off Esme's car. My eyes scanned around my tidy room after I had feverishly picked up my laundry, thinking Edward was going to walk in a see a pile of underwear and bras strewn across the floor. They landed on something wrapped in a white paper bag hanging in my closet. I got up cautiously, knowing that I had certainly never seen nor bought a package like that. My fingers made quick work of the small silver zipper and an audible gasp escaped out of my mouth as the dark blue fabric flowed out from the bag.

It was a midnight blue dress, spaghetti straps, and complete with a row of sparkling silver gems along the bottom. My fingers trailed down the silky material, rubbing it softly between my fingers.

There was a note pinned to the hanger and my eyes darted over it, my mind still in a daze as to where the beautiful dress came from. A dress I would never wear, might I add.

_Quick!_

_Zip it back up, and do NOT let Edward see it._

_I've already gone through enough trouble of keeping it out of my thoughts._

_P.S. Don't freak out over the shoes, okay?_

I glared at the note as I read through the first sentence. _Alice_. Of course Alice would shove a dress into my closet. My eyes widened as I skimmed over the P.S. and I looked down at the small black box beneath the garment. I was about to bend down to open the box and see the death traps she had given me when another note caught my eye.

_I told you not to freak out._

_And: zip it up! _

I rolled my eyes. Of course Alice would see every reaction and know exactly how pin point each note so I would see it at the right time.

I quickly zipped up the parcel, pushing it into the back of the closet. It must be important to her if she doesn't want Edward to see it. Surely this dress wasn't for me. Where would I wear it?

I stood back up from stooping down to zip it efficiently and was about to reach back into the closet for the black box when two cold arms encircled my waist. _Wow. Good job, Alice_. I thought. If she hadn't put that second note, the dress would still be out in the open, ruining whatever surprise she wanted to keep from Edward.

I twisted my body around so that I was chest to chest with Edward and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I see you have found Alice's gift," he whispered, his eyes soft and looking into mine as a small smile played around his lips.

I nodded.

"Did you see it?" I asked, breathless from our proximity. I could smell his aroma enveloping me along with my senses, sending my mind into a clouded frenzy.

He shook his head, a crease of frustration forming between his brows. The desire to smooth it out coursed through my body. I hated seeing Edward in any sort of discomfort. But, at the moment my fingers were too busy grazing the ends of his bronze hair on the back of his neck to smooth out the crease.

"No. But it has made a great impact on the girl's side of my family. It is all Rosalie and Alice are thinking about, and yet they are keeping it hidden at the same time."

I grumbled something incoherent to that somewhere along the lines of, "Of course they are," and Edward chuckled, giving me a strange look.

"It's late. And if I am not mistaken, you need to sleep," I pouted, but nodded as Edward pulled me back to my bed.

"Will you stay?" I asked, worry running through my head. Now that I had him, I didn't want to be without him.

"Would you like me to?" his golden eyes seared into mine, awaiting my response. I nodded, hoping that he would; even though he didn't sleep.

"Then, I will," I smiled and he pulled my hand so that I sat beside him on the bed. It seemed as though he was fidgeting, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to.

"What's wrong Edward?" I asked, my eyebrows narrowing.

"There's something that I must tell you. But I am afraid that it will make you upset…" he paused, his eyes searching mine. I quietly egged him on, my eyes telling him that he can't upset me.

"It won't… just tell me," he sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, making it even more disheveled and looked out my window which was opened slightly from when he had climbed through.

"This is not… exactly the first night I have spent in your room…" my mind went blank, my face showing the perplexity I felt.

"So… you mean… you've watched me sleep. Before?" he nodded, feigning innocence as he took in my reaction.

"It… intrigued me when I found out that you could sleep. I could not help myself. Then when I got here… I couldn't leave," I nodded, looking down at the comforter, not wanting to meet his eyes. If I did, he would surely be able to see the blush creeping up to my cheeks.

"Don't be upset," he murmured. I looked up at his troubled eyes and couldn't stop the smile that grew across my face.

"Actually, I'm kind of flattered," he smiled down at me and laughed breathlessly.

"I'm glad," he murmured, leaning closer to me, his golden orbs mesmerizing mine. My breathing quickened as his cool breath fanned over my face with his whispered words. The yearning to kiss him started seeping over all my other thoughts once again as his lips ghosted closer to mine.

"Because it is rather flattering to watch you sleep."

With that, his delicious lips crashed to mine, capturing my senses with his taste.

I kissed him back with much enthusiasm, loving the feel of his lips on mine. I fell back onto the bed, my head landing on the soft pillow as Edward hovered above me. I grabbed onto the lapel of his button-down shirt, glowing white from the light of the moon seeping in through the small opening in my window, pulling his lips back down to mine.

Our lips met each other with rough passion, something bottled up inside us both throughout the entire day. My fingers ran across the smooth fabric over his back as his lips left mine, trailing open-mouthed kisses down my throat, back up to my jaw line. A thousands emotions ran through me as a smothered moan escaped from my mouth as he sucked on my pulse point, or what was my pulse point.

His mouth moved back to mine in response to my whimper and my fingers knit their way into his soft hair, knotting around the locks of bronze. His tongue darted out, tracing my bottom lip, pleading for entrance which I blissfully granted him. I sucked in a gasp as his tongue met mine, and they began a quick battle for control which neither of them would win.

Meanwhile, his hand was trialing down along my side, down to my knee and back up. The side of my shirt rose slightly, revealing a small sliver of skin and his hand took advantage of it, his fingers dancing across my exposed skin, bringing up long forgotten goose bumps at his touch.

My arms tightened around his neck, pulling him closer to me until his entire body collapsed on top of mine. He pulled back gingerly, and my being immediately felt forlorn without the weight of him on top of me. I pouted and he chuckled, leaning down to peck my lips one last time before rolling off me to my side.

He pulled up my blanket, draping it over me, and then pulled me to his chest. I turned so I was facing him and looked up into his eyes for the last time that night. His lips met mine chastely, and he whispered against them.

"Bella, I love you more than you will ever know," the vibrations went through my lips to the rest of my body and I shivered from the feeling.

"I love you, too," I whispered, nuzzling my head into his chest.

He began humming something that sounded like my lullaby he had played for me a few days ago on his piano and I found myself slipping out of consciousness.

Edward's strong hold around me was the last thing I felt before I fell into the cloud that was sleep.

**There's a short chapter for ya! Hope you like it!**

**Review, please!!**


	13. Rumors are Flying

**I don't own Twilight!**

**Hey guys, over 100 reviews!!!!!!!1**

_Bella POV_

"_Dude. Don't even __**talk**__ like that around them! Haven't you heard? She's Cullen's girl now. He'd rip you to __**shreds**__ if he could hear you right now!"_

I pressed myself into Edward's side as Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley both turned in their seats, looking over at us from across the noisy cafeteria. The rumors had started flying the moment we stepped into school this morning, though we had only been conspicuously dating for a day and not even in school! It was almost as if this town, so tiny, could hear everything that arose at any moment, spreading it around quicker than a bullet could shoot out of a gun.

Alice and Rosalie giggled as a blush spread across my cheeks on account of their whole table now looking over at us. As a human, I had always hated being the center of attention. Now, with my heightened senses, it was even worse.

It was like being watched by your whole class as your teacher reads the note aloud that she just caught you passing, all of your deepest secrets written in clear ink, being read to the world.

Edward's cool palm landed on my cheek as he turned my head into his chest; I gratefully obliged, burying my face in his chest willingly. I took in his calming sent readily, letting the aroma drown out my distress.

"You guys are just too cute," Alice gushed as Edward glared over at Mike, a low growl coming from deep within his chest, until Mike turned back around, eyes wide.

Edward snorted, his face drawn into the dark brooding state, making him look incredibly adorable.

"But the thoughts they are thinking are definitely not _cute_," he grumbled under his breath, sending another glare Tyler's way.

Emmett sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his large arms across his chest.

"God, Edward. You're such an amateur. You're _supposed_ to scare the thoughts right out of them, not just glare like a sissy!"

It wasn't the thought of Edward doing this that scared me, though that would certainly be a sight, it was the sound of Emmett's knuckles cracking as he began to go into detail about an "earlier incident" when someone had "put the moves on his girl" a few years ago.

Relentlessly, the image of Emmett doing exactly that came into my mind, threatening a shiver to creep down my spine.

Gratefully, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and I rose ineptly, turning my focus from the many whispers and stares towards our table, to Alice as she began a very irritating declaration.

"Don't forget, Bella," she called out to me as Jasper started dragging her away to trigonometry, "we're going shopping Saturday!"

She turned and skipped away, Jasper following awkwardly as she spun around a table. I groaned looking up at the ceiling. God was _not_ on my side today.

My mind backtracked, rethinking that last statement as the beautiful creature, who I now had the liberty to call my boyfriend, wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me out the back door.

"It won't be that bad, Bella," he said crossly, now pulling me by the hand as he took my books from me, carrying them himself along with his own like a true gentleman.

I was about to protest when I realized that he was still upset about whatever the students had been thinking about.

"Edward," I yanked on his hand, pulling him back to me. He turned around to face me but his eyes wouldn't meet mine as they took a sudden interest in the floor tiles.

"Edward, look at me," he did so, like my voice held the string to his head, jerking it up with my words. His golden eyes glanced into mine, emotions of deep sorrow and disgust wavering through them.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly, my free hand moving up to caress his cheek. His eyes fell shut as he tilted his head farther into my hand, placing a light kiss on the base of my palm.

"It's all the degraded thoughts the juvenile male population," he sneered at this, spitting out the words in a fiery rush, "have towards _you_."

I sighed, knowing Edward to be undoubtedly jealous. It was usually cute but sometimes, now, he took his feelings too far.

"It doesn't matter what any of them think. I don't _care _what any of them think. I only care what _you_ think. I don't want to spend eternity with _them_; it's _you_ I want to spend forever with."

Looking deep into his eyes, I realized the truth of my words. Sure, we had told of our love for each other who knows how many times, but we had never gotten to the infinity part before.

The words that had poured out of my mouth as I tried to comfort the love of my life came to an abrupt stop as the last sentence glided out. It felt as though there should have been a terrible struggle between my heart, mind, and mouth. But it seemed as if for the second time in my life, they were all on the same page.

Of course, I knew my heart and mind would be in synch, the un-beating organ inside of my frozen body already knew I couldn't live without the magnificent being in front of me, dead and undead alike. Mutually, my mind had followed somewhat the same path. Analyzing every move I made, making sure they somehow brought me closer to Edward.

It was my mouth that surprised me the most.

As a human, I had always had a hard time of saying what I truly felt. Holding back so as not to reveal too much of myself. Around Edward, though, I felt as if I _wanted_ to reveal myself, like I needed to.

So that's why, as the most breathtaking smile appeared on Edward's face, I knew one thing for sure. I would never be able to live without him.

*****

I stared out the large window of Edward's room, a new frown forming upon my face.

A new storm had started almost as soon as we had arrived after school, the rain pouring down like it had never before, equipped with the whole sha-bang: thunder and lightning.

"Bella, it will clear up soon. We can go tomorrow," I sighed heavily at Edward's words. It wasn't the rain that had disappointed me, turned me miserable, it was the simple fact that today Edward was going to bring me back to his meadow – our meadow; he had corrected me hastily earlier.

I turned to see Edward lounged out on the large bed he had bought for his room, equipped with silky gold covers, bringing out the bright butter scotch of his eyes.

He patted the open space next to him, motioning for me to lay with him which I readily obliged to. Besides kissing Edward, being around him in his aroma was my favorite thing in the world to do.

My head rested against the fluffy pillow, my body sinking into the expensive mattress, making _my_ bed feel like a cot for prisoners. I pouted, my hand pressing over the cushioned material.

Edward's beautiful laugh filled the room.

"You are just determined to be unhappy today, aren't you?" I responded to a comment with a question of my own.

"Why did you buy a bed?" I looked up into his eyes. A big mistake on my part as I lost my train of thought.

He breathed in through his nose as he turned his head in the direction of the black leather couch.

"Well, for one, it's more comfortable than _that_," he turned to face me now, his eyes wide like he was in disbelief of something.

His body shifted, moving closer to me as he held his figure up on his elbow, leaning in towards me. His face was mere inches from mine, his nose practically meeting mine. His sweet breath fanned across my face, putting me in a momentary daze.

"Are you imposing that you dislike the bed?" he asked, his mouth even closer now.

"Because I thought it was a good idea to buy one. For comfort purposes along with the addition of room from my small couch."

I nodded my head slowly, my mouth opening slightly, waiting for him. I no longer cared about the bed. We could be on a board of nails for all I cared.

"So you like it? You think I should keep it?" I nodded quicker this time, hoping it would speed things along.

He smiled, his eyes moving down to my lips as he leaned in.

I held my breath as his lips came so close to mine, it almost felt as though they _were_ touching when the door opened and an excited Emmett ran in the room, covered head to toe in mud and water.

"Hey, guys!" he said happily, twirling what looked like a baseball bat in his hands.

Edward groaned and pulled away from me, much to my disdain. Suddenly, a cloud of fury was sweeping over me, aimed directly at Emmett.

"Emmett! Get out!" Edward growled. Emmett took no notice to Edward's apparent threat as he stomped further into the room, pulling me off the bed by one hand.

"You're on my team Bella!" he yelled happily towards the door like he was letting the other Cullen's know. My head was turning as I looked at Edward whose eyes were closed in frustration, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose as he did when he was irritated or worried. I could only hope it was irritation.

"Team? For what?" my heart would be beating out of my chest if it could. I had never been one for sports and the bat spinning on the ground where Emmett had dropped it made me realize these weren't teams for a board game.

"Baseball, of course!" he laughed a booming laugh as he walked out the door, heading back down the stairs.

"Come on, Bella! Meet us in the field! Edward, Jasper's pitching, so you're going to be on Alice's team!"

I stood with my mouth opened in shock. Not only did I hate sports, I had never successfully played one, human or not. Even with my heightened vampire senses and speed, I knew this was _not_ going to be fun.

"Let's go, love. If we don't play, they'll just keep it as an excuse over us," I groaned as he pulled my hand, dragging me out the door of his room.

He stopped short, causing me to crash into him. He grabbed onto the top of my shoulders which was a little awkward since my hand was still wrapped around his. I let go as he held me close to him and bent down so his face was level with mine.

"I never did get that kiss," I grinned as he pulled me forward, capturing my lips with his. It was a short, but passionate kiss as his tongue traced along my bottom lip, then finding a smooth rhythm against my tongue. He pulled back, the taste of him still lingering on my mouth.

He prized me with one of his crooked grins as he took my hand again and began leading me out to my death wish.

I licked my lips, carelessly taking in the extra strong taste of him left on my mouth.

_It was going to be the only thing to take me through the rest of this night_.

**Review please, I know. Not very exciting, this chapter. But it was really just a filler and now you know that the school is already in tune with the gossip!**


	14. Baseball and Understandings

**As always, I don't own Twilight. Though it would be nice if I did… :)**

_Bella POV_

I stood next to Esme at the edge of the field as Emmett gave me the basic instructions on how to play baseball.

"So, you just run the bases when you hit the ball, if it's not a catch or a foul. So go stand in outfield. Alice's team is up first."

I looked around, watching where everyone else went. Alice seemed to be skipping towards the home plate, Jasper somewhere in the middle of the field, and Emmett… staring down at me.

"Outfield is in the _outfield_, Bella," he said condescendingly. I looked past him at Edward for help. He was talking animatedly with Rosalie, seemingly about his Volvo. I rolled my eyes. Him and his Volvo…

_Edward!_ I thought apprehensively as I dropped my shield. His head snapped up towards me, his eyes wide. I would have laughed at how surprised he looked if it wasn't for the _dire_ need to know where outfield was. Dire. Right.

_Where's outfield?! Just point!_ I added hastily as I saw his mouth open with the intent to answer me. He gave me a strange look, proving to me that he was too involved in the discussion about his Volvo to have heard Emmett giving me the run down on baseball. I could only imagine the torture that would come from Emmett if he knew I had no idea what outfield meant.

Edward pointed his finger towards the land out by the trees and I smiled inconspicuously at him, reminding myself that I would have to thank him later. My eyes flashed back to Emmett and I smiled widely at him, proudly walking off to the open field.

I watched as everyone else readied themselves. Jasper throwing the small baseball so high in the air it would disappear for a quarter of a second, then catching it in his bare hand. Alice swinging the bat at a break neck speed, making a _swish_ noise in the air. Carlisle was crouching behind her, hand out in a catching position. Rosalie standing to the left of Alice looking bored as she examined her nails. Emmett positioning himself on second base, a wicked grin on his face that made my stomach jump in my throat. Esme was sitting on a large rock looking as if it was placed there for that sole purpose, a whistle around her neck. A soft laugh escaped my mouth as I realized she was the ref. It suited her in the sense that she was 'mother' of the Cullen's and so had to break apart arguments frequently.

My eyes glided over to Edward who was standing besides Rosalie, staring off into the sky, and then his attention turned to Jasper. The breath I was inhaling caught in my throat at the glorious sight of him. His unruly bronze hair was covered with a white and blue baseball hat; wisps of bronze out, covering his forehead.

His piercing gold eyes met mine, a large grin across his lips showing all his teeth. I groaned, mentally slapping myself as I realized my shield was still down. I pulled it up quickly, much to Edward's dismay. I was about to tell him that I loved him as an apology when Emmett interrupted me.

"Edward! Stop making goo-goo eyes at Bella! Jasper! Throw the damn ball!" I looked down, blushing at having our exchange being caught by none other than Emmett, which meant everyone probably saw it. The first person my eyes hit was Esme and she was smiling happily at Edward, unbeknownst to him, her hands clasped together. I couldn't help the happiness that grew over my body at knowing that Esme accepted Edward and I, not that someone didn't, it just felt… nice.

A few seconds went by, filled with an intense glaring contest between Edward and Jasper against Emmett. Eventually, Jasper turned away and his hands got ready for a pitch to a waiting Alice.

The rain had stopped, thankfully, and the sky was filled with low rumbles and sharp dashes of light. I soon found out why there needed to be a storm for vampire baseball as a loud crack sounded out through the field as the ball met the bat. I wasn't surprised as the wooden bat split in half, and was tossed to the ground carelessly as Alice ran to first base.

I thought for sure Alice had no fighting chance to reach other bases as the ball (thankfully) flew towards Emmett and he jumped in the air to catch it.

"Safe!" Esme yelled and Alice jumped up and down excitedly as Emmett yelled off a colorful stream of curse words as he threw the ball back a Jasper, a little rougher than necessary. Esme blew her whistle, shooting him a warning glance as he pouted, looking dejected. My frozen heart fluttered as I realized that he wouldn't be very happy with me if I struck out, which I most likely would do.

I quickly made a mental note to, from now on position myself on Edward and Rosalie's team. Edward would at least tell me I was doing a good job when I wasn't, and Rosalie wouldn't care either way if we won or not. She looked like she didn't want to be here as much as I didn't. Though, for her, it was out of pure boredom.

It was Rose's turn next as she stepped up to the plate, half heartedly taking the new bat with both hands. I realized with revelation that the box Carlisle had been carrying out was filled to the top with at least fifteen new bats. I briefly wondered why they continued using wooden bats instead of aluminum, which wouldn't break as easily when a ball hitting my shoulder brought me out of my distracting thoughts.

"Bel-la!" Emmett yelled, his hands going over his head in aggravation.

"You're _supposed_ to catch it when it comes to you! Not watch it!" He sounded like he was about to cry, both anger and grief pouring out of his words.

"I'm _sorry_!" I whined, picking up the ball and pathetically tossing it back to Jasper.

"I _told_ you I wasn't good at sports! But you made me play anyway!" I complained, watching as Jasper had to run fifty yards to retrieve the ball I had _tried_ to throw to him.

Emmett opened his mouth to retort when Edward interrupted him.

"Emmett, shut up. It was a good try, love!" I pouted as Carlisle and Esme broke out into silent laughter over the scene layed out before them.

See? Didn't I say that at least Edward would tell me I was doing well even though I wasn't?

"_Good try_? She didn't even _try_, Edward-"

"Emmett, just shut up and leave her alone!" Rosalie interrupted him, a deadly glare taking over her perfect face. I laughed teasingly as he closed his mouth, looking down. He wasn't able to act against Rosalie's wishes.

He stuck his tongue out at me as I smirked.

The rest of the game went along somewhat like that until Alice and Emmett, of course, got into an argument over whether or not I was safe as I stood on second base, my hand on my hip as I watched them fight over my doom. Eventually, it was decided by Carlisle that I was indeed safe. Neither Alice nor Emmett tried to fight this. Whatever Carlisle says goes.

It was shortly Emmett's turn to bat on our third switch and I was slowly getting into the game, even hitting a home run. For now, I was once again on second base. Since we each had a short number of people on our team, no one had been guarding second as I easily touched down, earning me a moment of happiness from Emmett.

The ball soared out through the woods as Emmett hit it, half the bat flying two hundred feet in the air from the harsh impact. I ran to third base, watching Edward out of my peripheral vision running through the trees to retrieve it.

Seconds later, he ran back out through the woods, ball in hand keeping Emmett and me on our bases. Me at third, him at second. I watched as Edward tossed the small white sphere to Jasper and took his guard at third base where I was standing.

Carlisle had to leave his position to hit for our team since both Emmett and I were on base. Edward smiled at me, his perfect white teeth glistening in the quickly darkening sky. I smiled back, taking pleasure in the fact that his smile was for me only. I would never get used to the idea that this beautiful creature was created for me. Heaven must be missing an angel.

"How are you liking the game so far, love?" he asked, his eyes trained on me.

"It's fun. Intense. But fun," he laughed a soft carefree laugh that melted my insides and I wanted nothing more than to touch him. I was about to act on my whimsical initiative when Emmett's voice rang through the night, commanding me to run home.

"Bye!" I yelled hurriedly as I did as I was told, Edward chuckling as I did, a sound I took pleasure in.

I took things into perspective as I ran to the widely spaced plate, taking in the scene in front of me. Carlisle, Alice, Esme, Jasper all standing around, watching nervously as I crossed the final plate, hopefully earning Emmett and I another home run. Carlisle smiled happily as my eyes met his and I smiled back, Esme clapping and speaking incoherent words as Alice jumped up and down excitedly in place, Jasper watching my foot as it hit the white plate.

My family.

I turned, seeing the ball in Rosalie's hand, also seeing Emmett slowing down as he crossed the plate behind me.

"She's safe!" Emmett yelled, looking around at anyone who would either second that notion or deny it. Alice, of course denied it.

"No! Rose caught the ball! She caught it before she hit the plate! She's out!" Emmett advanced on the tiny pixie, though the expression on her face said tons.

She wasn't afraid to take him on.

Jasper however had another thought as Emmett lunged for Alice. Jasper jumped in front, taking Emmett's blow as Rosalie groaned loudly, walking off towards the house. I laughed quietly as they wrestled around on the ground, words of "She's out!" and "No!" being called out angrily as the fight got more heated.

Carlisle jogged towards the fight, pulling Jasper off of Emmett as Esme yelled words of veto, all revolving around Emmett. Alice was clapping, cheering on Jasper as she backed off slightly, watching the fight animatedly. I laughed as she began giving Jasper different techniques and tellings of what Emmet was going to do next. Her eyes shifting in and out of focus as she looked to see what the next move would be.

A pair of cool arms encircled my waist, pulling me back against a sculpted chest. I marveled in the feel of Edward's arms around me, feeling as though he was holding together my entire world.

"Normally," he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing once or twice against my hair as he spoke, "I would enrage in the fact that two guys were fighting over you."

I smiled, listening to Edward's honey smooth voice drift my mind into a world where only he and I existed.

"But, I must admit. It's rather intriguing that they are fighting over whether or not you are safe."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Why is that intriguing?" I asked, my head unnecessarily tilting to the side so he would hear me, though I knew his audible range was beyond perfection.

"Because." He said simply. I waited, but when he didn't say anything else, I thought that that was his genius reasoning. I was about to ask "Because why?" when he spoke again.

"Because, you are always safe in my arms." I smiled lovingly, watching as Jasper stood beside Alice, as Carlisle pulled Emmett towards the house, thinking over Edward's words and realizing the undying truth behind them. I was safe in his arms.

Being held by him was like sleeping with your light on, door open the night you watched a scary movie. Knowing that there was no way the monster would come get you in the clear light. Like when you wake up from a nightmare with your mom's open arms waiting for you to let out your worries in.

"Bella," Alice whispered as she and Jasper walked by us, heading into the house.

"Get a good night sleep tonight. We're going shopping tomorrow!" I grimaced as I watched Alice smile, then involve herself in Jasper as they walked back to the house, soon leaving Edward, Esme, and I outside by ourselves.

It was luck that Alice would give me her "good" news as I was wrapped up in Edward. It was almost impossible for me to become upset at anything when I was being touched by an angel.

Esme soon followed after them, having picked up the strewn pieces of bat left on the ground. She smiled lovingly at us and I couldn't help the smile that poised my features.

"Don't stay out too late, you two. Edward, make sure you get her to bed properly before she gets too tired."

"I will," Edward promised as she placed a motherly kiss on his cheek, then one on mine.

"Good night, Bella. I'll see you in the morning,"

"Good night, and thank you for letting me stay the night."

"There's no need to thank us, Bella. You can stay whenever you'd like. You're a part of the family."

My heart swelled at her words. I had never been so accepted by a family before, not to mention any sort of coven.

"Thank you," I answered her softly as she smiled once more, her hand resting on my shoulder.

"No. Thank _you_." She responded before turning with a smile on her face and moving towards the house. I sighed happily, watching as the rest of my family made their way out of our sights, to the house.

At that moment, I felt happier than I ever had in my entire life, human and non-human alike. Loved by the people around me, _in-_love with the most wonderful and beautiful creature walking this Earth. For the first time since my change, welcomed to a house; having a family to call my own; having a lover to call my own. Anything anyone could ever want in life.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I leaned further into Edward, loving the feeling of being so close to him.

"Isabella Marie Swan. You are the love of my love." He whispered, his cool breath fanning out across the skin of my neck, sending chills down my spine which my body happily shivered along with, causing Edward to strengthen his grip on me.

"And you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," I whispered back as his nose glided along the side of my throat he could reach, "are mine."

I took revenue in the fact that we were alone in a wide open field, the only sound around us were the ones of the wind blowing lightly across leaves fallen and strewn across the ground, and we were whispering to each other like this moment could get any more private.

Suddenly, I understood the silent, discreet moments of love shared between Jasper and Alice. The ones that look like a simple passing of glances but were so much more that you felt the need to look away, like you were invading in a private moment.

I tilted my head up so that our lips were capable of touching as his nose continued to skim along my skin, momentarily awaiting his soft touch before it came, sending my senses into hyper-drive.

Without warning, his nose lifted, my senses screaming from the loss of contact. His full lips pressed down onto my waiting ones, his hands strengthening across my torso, pulling me unbelievably closer to him as his lips caressed mine, making my body yearn for him in ways that were new to me.

My hand reached down, entwining itself with his clasped ones. His hand grabbed onto mine, pressing it between his two, creating an endurably warm sensation through my body though his hands were colder than mine.

My breathing started to become ragged and he pulled away, always too quickly. His mouth trailed along my throat, following in synch with the path his nose had created only moments ago. I tilted my head, giving him access to more of my throat, which he readily covered in kisses.

"We should head in before Esme becomes worried," he murmured against my skin, sending a vibration throughout my body. I nodded, not wanting to leave, but not wanting to concern Esme.

Besides. We had a whole night ahead of us.

**Okay, now don't get upset with me if the baseball scene was incorrect. I don't watch or play baseball, so that's as best as I could do, lol. Plus, the "Heaven must be missing an angel" sentence is property of "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" by Tavares. I was listening to the radio as I was writing this chapter and that song came on and I thought it fit, so it was born into the story! **

**Review, please!**


	15. Distractions

**Uh, so since my name isn't Stephenie Meyer… I guess I don't own Twilight!**

_Bella POV_

"Bella, _please_," Edward whispered quietly, his face mere inches from mine. I turned my head away from him, my arms crossed stubbornly.

I had woken up to an energetic Alice jumping on Edward's bed, the shopping language flowing out of her mouth. Words I had heard like _Vera Wang, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior_. Along with many I hadn't.

"Hopefully the stores in Port Angeles will have all the New Fall Arrivals. I _hate_ when they have clothes from last season! It's such disrespect to the designers!"

My face buried further into the pillows as Edward did his best to try and quiet her down. With almost no success. I quickly realized that when Alice was excited about something, there was nothing you could say or do that would change her mind.

Which brought us back to the present.

"It won't be that bad…" Edward murmured, his fingertips gently stroking my face in high hopes that my anger would subside.

"Ha! Says you! You're not the one about to be dragged through thousands of stores!"

He let go of me, seeing that my decision was not going to waver no matter what he said, and stepped back out of my reach.

Alice had asked Edward if he would come. She said it was so I would stop complaining, but I think it was secretly so she wouldn't have to carry her bags, but of course as soon as the tide is turned on him, _he_ gets out of it.

He and Jasper were going hunting while Alice, Rose, and I were shopping.

"Why do you want me to go so bad?" the curiosity crawled through my tone as a new problem occurred in my mind.

He sighed, closing his eyes and turning his head up towards the ceiling.

I waited, keeping my impatient mind busy with engraving his jarring perfection to mind. A frown etched its way onto my face at the thought that I wouldn't see him for nearly six hours today, if not longer.

A profound sigh brought my attention back to the problem at hand as Edward's eyes opened, flickering to mine and quickly away.

"I know Alice, and if you do not just _go_ happily today, she will not hesitate to take you away from me for a week in France, or Italy for a shopping spree."

I small smile played around my lips as he crossed his arms, a brooding pout taking over his features.

"Edward," I sighed submissive as his darkening eyes pierced my soul, "I would never let anyone take you away from me for that long, no matter how good a trip to Europe sounds."

He growled decisively and I was abruptly in his arms, his eyes the color of night as the steady grumbling erupting from his chest vibrated through my body, making me giggle.

"If a trip to Europe is what you want, then I will bring you. But if Alice comes, you are _not_ shopping with her the entire time."

I scoffed sardonically and playfully slapped his chest.

"And what if I _want_ to shop the whole time, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen?"

"Then, Isabella Marie Swan," my nose crinkled at my full name though I had used Edward's not two seconds ago, "I will have to do everything in my power to distract you."

_Distracting me won't be that difficult_, I thought as Edward's hands teasingly ran down my sides, then back up. His fingers brushed against the sliver of exposed skin on my hip as his hands pulled up my shirt tersely.

My breathing hitched and an amused chuckle escaped from his perfect lips, sending my mind into a flurried rush.

His head ducked down so his lips were near mine, and I waited impatiently for his mouth to touch down on my awaiting one.

"So I am?" he whispered huskily, his lips lightly brushing against mine.

"I… are you what?"

He chuckled at my incoherency and his slick tongue flicked out, tracing the contour of my top lip, sending an irrevocable sentiment of need through my body. He was like a drug; I couldn't get enough of him.

"Am I distracting you?" I mumbled an incomprehensible answer as his lips pressed to mine, my mouth greedily moving against his. The kiss moved from tenderly passionate to urgent as his mouth attacked mine more fiercely than ever before. This new kiss sent an explicit fire soaring through my body, raging higher as he took my bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling lightly on it.

I pulled in a ragged breath through my mouth. It barely helped though, for as I did, I took in more of Edward's scent and taste, sending my once flurried brain into an absolute hurricane.

As Edward's hands moved higher up my shirt, his cool fingers skimming across the skin just below my rib cage, something began nagging at the back of my mind.

I tried to ignore it, but the sound began to reach my ears, pulling my brain reluctantly out of its Edward-high.

Eventually, I realized that it indeed was someone talking. Calling my name.

Edward must have heard it as well because he began to slow his lips, starting to pull away. I grasp onto him substantially tight, not wanting our tussle to end.

"_Bella!_" the voice became more prominent and I recognized it as no other than Alice Cullen.

"Go away, Alice!" Edward called out, turning his head momentarily, then his lips were once again on mine.

"_NO! We're leaving now! If you don't come out, we're coming in!"_

"_Whether or not you guys are dressed!"_ A furious blush grew across my face at the position Rosalie was implying we were in. _I wish._

Edward stepped back, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose and I took it as a signal for me to open the door to his room.

They burst in like they had been leaning against the door, calling out their threats.

"Aw. Bells, you're too cute," Alice cooed, patting my red cheek. My eyebrows knit together in frustration as Rosalie grabbed my purse off the bed and took hold of my arm, efficiently dragging me out of the room, Alice skipping along behind us.

I looked back to see Edward following precariously, his arms crossed and his face set in a glower. I smiled slightly, turning before he saw and walked down the stairs. Thankfully, Rosalie had let go, possibly knowing the affects her hold on me could have for both of us if I tried to walk down the stairs.

"Okay, so we'll be back around five, Edward. I'm telling you this so you won't come running to the mall in a desperate search for Bella."

Edward and I both rolled our eyes at Alice's proclamation as Rose giggled.

"Come on! Before we miss the sales!" Alice hollered behind her shoulder as her and Rose continued their venture to Alice's Porsche.

I stood on my tiptoes, swiftly pressing a kiss to Edward's cheek before turning to head out the door.

"I'll be here, awaiting your return," he grumbled as I shut the door, laughing.

**Hey guys. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. DX. But here is a quick chapter I whipped up for ya! Sorry not much happened in it, but Edward and Bella did get to share a pretty hot kiss, if you ask me! **

**Review, Please!**


	16. Running in Circles

**I don't own Twilight. Though, I wish I owned Edward ;] And, I don't own the song Honey by Bobby Goldsboro. **

_Edward POV_

"God! Enough sulking already!" I glared at Jasper as he left the room, seemingly overwhelmed by my "moping" presence.

Emmett's loud laughter filled my ears and I continued my way out the door, not wanting to listen to their ignorant thoughts.

I could already hear the workings of an undignified symphony in my dim brother's mind.

I kicked a branch out of my way as I strolled to the edge of the woods, inhaling the crisp night air. The surroundings of my kind always stressed me, having to listen to their private thoughts. I always felt like I was imposing into their lives; knowing things they didn't particularly want to share.

I believe that is one reason Rosalie is so depraved with the family.

Between Alice, Jasper, and I, nothing stayed silent for long.

Until Bella came along…

Around her… it was _silent_. I had always taken for granted the idea of not hearing people's thoughts twenty-four/seven until I met Bella.

I had never wanted to understand the workings of a mind more than I had hers.

Of course, she could always lower her shield, but I wasn't about to breech her privacy by asking that of her, no matter how much I desired to.

The few times she had… my world was flipped upside down. I could live on her voice.

I sighed, feeling my body become more and more dejected from the time away from her. I now realized the ever present depression Jasper had around him whenever Alice was gone. He didn't do it on purpose… it just came as it felt with her parting.

A rather large deer had been watching me from behind a tree a few yards away. Though I had hunted merely hours ago, the monster inside me roared at the smell of a new hunt; a new chase.

The deer froze in fear, considering my new predator pose. Crouched, lips slightly parted ready to flash sharp teeth on the exact impact of pursuit. Its large brown eyes were trained on my rapidly darkening ones as my breathing stopped, the monster running through my veins, frozen in time.

As if by realization, the creature took off in full flight, leading me on a pursuit a bit disappointing. Deer were fast, but not fast enough. My teeth sank into the soft thermal skin; the racing heart beat pulsing against my tongue as I lapped up the red liquid.

A soft growl was repeatedly escaping from within my chest as the palatable fluid ran down my throat, for the moment satisfying the ceaseless burn.

As the last drop of life was swiftly drained from the creature, it gave one last jolt of its body, then stilled.

I grimaced, throwing its body to the side and walked further into the woods, knowing I would have to come back to take care of the corpse. Silently, I berated myself for hunting so close to humans. Anyone could have walked by at anytime and either a, been an unlucky lynched mortal, or b, one who got away.

We had to be so careful to never let either of these happen, especially the latter.

Though the townspeople would most likely not believe them about vampires, there was still the slight possibility.

I picked up my pace to a jog, taking in my surroundings. Running had always been relaxing to me, whether it be the fresh air entering my unused lungs, the wind blowing through my hair, or the absolute silence of thoughts around me.

Yeah… that last one…

Before long, my slow jog had turned into an outright sprint as I raced through the darkening woods, thinking of nothing but the ground below my feet.

*****

A few hours later of running to an unidentified locale, I came across a familiar pattern of brush.

I stopped short, a humorous chuckle coming from me as I gazed up at the house standing in front of me.

My mind and body had run me in circles for hours to land in the exact spot I wanted to be: Bella's yard.

I stood back, contemplating whether or not to go back to my house when my cell phone rang.

_Alice 3 _

The caller I.D. read. I smirked, putting into mind to change her contact name. She was always changing things on everyone's phones'….

"Alice," I greeted her curtly and I heard her giggling away from the phone.

"_Is your refrigerator running?_" I sighed exasperated as a chorus of laughter erupted from the other line; Alice and Rosalie.

"Okay, sorry. I've always wanted to do that. But since I just had two visions of you: you moping back home, or you sneaking into Bella's house which is trespassing, by the way – _not if I don't mind_,"

My dead heart skipped a beat, a wide grin making its way to my face when I heard Bella's beautiful voice cut across Alice's from somewhere on the other line.

"Put Bella on the phone." I all but demanded Alice, exhilaration churning within me. I had gone nine hours without hearing her exquisite voice. Nine hours without seeing her stunning face. Nine hours too long.

"No! You're going to talk to long and kill my battery! Besides, we're almost at Bella's house. We're just dropping her off there so you two kids can have some fun," I pretended I didn't hear the double meaning to Alice's words as I closed my eyes, my thumb and forefinger habitually coming up to pinch the bridge of my nose; an aggravated habit.

"Okay, fine. Just bring her back safely."

"Okay, byeeeeee!" I rolled my eyes at her prolonged departure and shut my phone.

I sat against the small tree protruding strongly from the ground, resting my head against the trunk as my eyes slid shut.

Those nine hours were going to seem like nothing compared to the next half hour I was forced to wait.

**Sorry if this chapter was short, or boring, or anything else that's bad. It's really just a filler chapter since I haven't updated in a while… but it was Edward's point of view!!!! FTW!!**

**Review, Please. It would really make me happy! =)**


	17. Tear Jerker

**Sadly, I have no rights of owning Twilight, though I wish I did. **

_Bella POV_

I huffed as I rested my head on the window of Alice's crowded Porsche. Twenty bags of clothing I could deal with. Thirty boxes of shoes I could not. It had taken a while to adjust my body to maneuver around the boxes so the edges wouldn't stick into numerous body parts. That is until Alice would do a quick swerve with her driving (almost as crazy as Edward's. I mean come on. I like fast cars too but that doesn't mean we have to push them to their limits!) and all the boxes would move, successfully making not only the actual shopping bad, but also the transportation. 

They didn't hurt. It was just extremely annoying.

"God, Alice! Even with your most insane driving it's still not fast enough!"

"Keep quiet, Bella. We'll get you home to Edward soon enough. Look!" she pointed at something excitedly and I tried unsuccessfully to look over the pile of bags, until giving up and slumping back down in my seat.

"No more shopping!" I whined, wishing more than anything that she was not pointing to another _fifty percent off everything!_ sale.

Alice shot me a look from the mirror and I shrank in my seat, my eyes sliding shut.

"Don't worry. It's nothing about shopping. It was a sign saying _Welcome to Port Angeles_." Rosalie graciously filled me in, sighing exasperatedly. Apparently I wasn't the only one annoyed by Alice's shopaholic nature.

My eyes flew open as I realized what that meant. _Twenty minutes until I could be in my bed next to my Edward!_

The sleep deprivation that had been taking me merely five seconds ago was long gone as my body filled with anticipation. It took all my concentration not to jump out of the car and run the rest of the way into Edward's awaiting arms.

I closed my eyes and pretended Edward was here with me in the car and steadily the wear and tear of shopping all day began taking a toll on my body and I fought for consciousness.

*****

I had lost my battle with sleep as hushed voices and vivid lights filtered through my closed lids.

I tried to pry open an eye unsuccessfully as my body continued shutting down from sleep deprivation.

"Alice. Calm yourself. It's not like clothes can break,"

"Yeah, but if Edward picks her up, he's going to squish them all. And what if the zippers break?!" I heard Alice whisper harshly in response to Rosalie.

I tried to wake myself up so no one would have to carry me and nothing would get broken or squished, but it's a lot easier said than done.

"Shh! You are waking her up," Edward's velvety voice rang through my ears as my body stirred with the new compel of waking.

I felt things being moved around me, boxes sliding out from halfway under me.

"You made her sit on all this?! Can I impose a suggestion for next time? Use the trunk!"

I heard Alice scoff at Edward's proposition and mutter something under her breath.

I desperately acquired to find out what time it was. Right now, it felt like it was the middle of the night but I knew that couldn't be true. We had only left the mall, or as I like to call it _my personal Hell_, at eight o'clock. And unless Alice had made a pit stop for more shopping, it should only be about nine the latest.

Cool arms wrapped around my figure and I felt my body being lifted from the back seat.

My eyes opened slightly from the suddenness, but instantly fell closed when they met a familiar shoulder.

Edward was carrying me bridal style from the car to the porch steps. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in the crook of his throat.

I heard Edward chuckle as a yawn escaped me.

Before long, we were in my room and I vaguely remember wondering whether Alice and Rose had left. I heard Edward's foot meet the door as he kicked it shut, flicking the light off allowing my eyes to open with the loss of brightness.

His face pressed into my neck, his lips mumbling against my throat as his scent trickled through my nose, reminding me how long I had gone without seeing him.

"I missed you," I whispered, tightening my grip on him.

"Not as much as I have missed you, love." I smiled, thinking there was no way that was true but I wasn't about to argue the point.

He pulled back the covers, laying me on the bed then pulling them back. He stood over me as I situated myself to get comfortable and I looked up at him, his figure pronounced by the moonlight streaking through the window.

"Are you staying?" the concern and agitation flowing through my tone at the thought of not being with him again.

There was a second of silence

"Would you like me to?" his voice was controlled, but the eagerness showed through.

"Yes," I whispered without the need of contemplation.

"Then I will stay." I smiled, moving over and patting the spot next to me. Usually he sat on the rocking chair in the corner, but I always preferred him to lay with me.

He granted my wish, kicking off his shoes and laying next to me. I cuddled into his side and his face buried into my hair. I giggled as he inhaled my scent, kissing my head.

"I love you so much." He spoke softly, his honey voice adding to my exhaustion as my eyelids threatened to slip closed again. His soft lips moved from my hair and down the profile of my face, leaving a burning trail in their pursuit.

His lips moved to mine, moving at a slow pace, sending thrills through my body. His hands moved to encircle my waist, pulling me on top of him. My hands gripped at his hard shoulders in a desperate attempt to get closer.

His fingers traced down my spine, sending shivers in their wake as the kiss grew more impetuous than innocent.

I bit at his bottom lip as his tongue took the chance to slip into my mouth, curling itself around mine.

A groan escaped my mouth, my exhaustion all but extinct as I pulled myself up farther onto him.

Rapidly, he sat up pulling me with him and parting our lips temporarily. He pushed me down onto the bed where he laid moments ago and leaned over me, half his body resting on top of mine.

His mouth attacked my lips hungrily, a growl slowly escaping his chest.

I inhaled a ragged breath against his mouth and he seemed to still over me.

He pulled away abruptly, his eyes shutting tightly.

My heart sank as he leaned away from me to lay on my bed, his body now two inches away from me like he was afraid of the possibility of our bodies touching.

I sighed aggravated as my head fell on the pillow. Edward still hadn't opened his eyes and it seemed as though he was concentrating hard. He was mumbling something under his breath and his hands came up to rub his face furiously.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, concerned as I sat up to look down at him, my head resting on my shoulder as my hair twisted down my arm and back.

His eyelids flicked open, golden eyes meeting mine as a sad smile spread across his perfect face. He studied my face for a minute, the moonlight streaking across my mahogany hair.

His hand reached out to trace the contours of my face, his palm cupping my cheek.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered quietly like he was talking to himself. I felt a blush spread across my cheeks and I looked down at his shirt, trying to evade eye contact. He was avoiding the question.

"Edward," I chastised. His hand fell along my shoulder, his other forming a fist. He looked out the window and sighed, his eyes narrowing.

"It's… nothing of importance," I sat there confused, looking down at him. His gaze shifted from the window to me. I couldn't look away as his golden orbs stared into mine, no matter how hard I wanted to.

"What do you mean?" I asked with frustration, laying down next to him. It seemed as though he was always trying to not get too close.

"It's nothing." He said in a finalizing tone, telling me not to press the subject anymore. Like hell I wasn't going to.

"Edward!" I sat up, aggravated. He looked at me with a look of surprise. I didn't miss the plain look in his eyes covering up his real emotions.

"You always do this! Can't you just tell me what's wrong? _You_ always ask what I'm thinking and I tell _you!_" His eyes flattened, and I could tell I would get nowhere with him tonight.

"You edit." He accused smoothly. I pursed my lips, playing with a loose thread on my comforter.

"No… not always,"

"Yes, always." I glared down at him. It was so maddening, his testing ways!

He glared back up at me, his lips forming a hard line.

"Fine." I grumbled, throwing my upper body back on the bed in irritation.

"Bella," he sighed in exasperation, "Someday I will tell you, just not right now."

"And why not now?" I demanded through a perturbed laugh, "It's the perfect time! We're alone!"

"That is precisely why I cannot tell you now!" he snarled, moving to get out of the bed.

"What? Now you're leaving! Fine! Leave! I don't care!" I felt the angry tears trying to make their way past the brim, though they would never fall.

Edward stood, his form becoming rigid and constrained. He looked down at me as I tried to avoid contact that would convey how broken I was becoming inside.

"Do you wish for me to leave?" he asked, his voice monotone; void of emotion.

I hesitated, furtively biting my lip. Of course I didn't want him to leave. He was my entire world. Besides, if he left… would he ever come back?

My silence had taken too long.

"Very well. I will see you tomorrow, then."

My head turned in a desperate hopefulness that he was joking. That I would see him sitting in the rocking chair when I turned; but he was gone.

I closed my eyes, begging my body to hold in the dry sobs that were threatening to come through.

_This is all your fault!_ My thoughts yelled at me.

_If you had just left it be! Now who knows what's going to happen?!_

A soft whimper escaped and I threw my head in the pillow.

What _was_ going to happen now?

**I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates. School has been absolutely sucking up my time, plus work. So I get on the computer whenever I can. So if I haven't updated in a week, I probably have more than half the chapter written, I just can't find the time to finish or load it. **

**So there! You have their first fight!!! And be prepared for some werewolf (or shape shifter, however you want to say it) fights!! Whoo!! PLUS, PLUS::: This chapter had a little cliff hanger at the end, or at least I think it does… please Review!!!!**


	18. Boundaries Unknown

**As always, I do not own Twilight.**

**I just wanted to take some time out to thank all of my readers (and reviewers) for sticking with me through these past weeks. I am going to try to start updating regularly again, though there aren't many chapters left. But I am planning on making a sequel and rating it M. A lot of people have been asking me to do this so I think I will. Thanks again for being patient and sticking through my hectic updating schedule!!**

**Oh, and I also don't own the song Build Me Up, Buttercup by the Temptations.**

_Bella POV -- because it's the easiest ;)_

"_Baby, baby, try to find  
A little time and I'll make you happy  
I'll be home  
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you"_

The song ended as my hand slammed down on the alarm, turning my room silent except for the omnipresent trickling of rain against my window pane.

I turned over, half expecting to see a mess of bronze hair and a crooked grin waiting for me in the rocking chair, but of course there was none.

My hands slapped over my face, a groan emitting from my throat as the remembrance of last night's occurrences filtered back into my brain. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

I seriously considered skipping school as I lay there, staring up at the ceiling trying not to think too far ahead of myself. But I knew I had to go for two reasons. One was that I skipped every day the sun was out and when I needed to hunt so I really shouldn't randomly skip. And the other reason… I needed to see _him_.

It didn't matter if he didn't want to see me. He didn't even have to look at me if he was still angry, which I wouldn't blame him if he was. If I had just kept my stupid mouth _shut_! I just had to pry him!

I swooped out of bed before I got too down and convinced myself of things that were untrue. _Hopefully _untrue. There was a slight possibly he would hate me forever.

Mundanely, I went through my normal routine; all interest gone of course, but I got through it nonetheless and was soon out of the house.

An espy of silver caught my attention as I made my way to the old red truck and my dead heart sputtered. I looked up to see a familiar Volvo running smoothly in my driveway.

I held my breath as I watched, unsure of which action to take.

The drivers' side door opened and a small pixie danced out, a hesitant smile on her beautiful face.

The hope that had ignited through my body upon sight of the car immediately went out and I felt like crawling back to bed and not coming out.

"Bella…" the hesitation in her voice, like she was afraid I would break at any moment eradicated any optimism that Edward was in the car, somehow allowing Alice to drive.

I realized I hadn't moved when I noticed the space in between us. Subtly I took a few steps forward as Alice motioned towards the car.

"Do you want a ride?" She was playing with the scarf around her neck, obviously not looking at me so as not to set me off.

"Sure." _What the hell is going on?_ Is what I really wanted to come out of my mouth, but instead it was a simple, pure statement.

*****

The ride to the school was quite. The good thing about Alice was that she knew when to stay silent. She could go on for hours about a sale she went to, but when you really need it, she could be as soundless as the night.

As we neared the school, I noticed Rosalie's car in her normal space, but that was it.

"Alice," she looked at me as if she was surprised I had found my voice, but honestly, I was a little surprised that I had the strength to ask what I was about to.

"Mhm?" She became unnecessarily busy with parking, checking around her at least fifty times before she finally pulled in, and then turned to me.

I decided to start out with smaller question, leading to the answer I really wanted.

"Why are you driving the Volvo?" she glanced out her window, taking an interest in the students leaving their cars to meet friends and make their way into the building.

"My car… is being repainted. So Edward told me I could take his to school." She looked at me, her eyes widened like there was something she desperately wanted to tell me, but couldn't. No, not couldn't. _Wouldn't_.

I inhaled surreptitiously, hiding it as I pulled on my jacket.

"And where's Edward?" My breath caught in my throat, hoping she would say 'already in school'.

"He's at home," the world slowly began to dwindle around me. Was he skipping so he wouldn't have to see me? He could just be hunting… but I'm sure he would have told me he was.

"No! Bella, it's not because-"

"Alice. I have to go. I'm going to be late." I cut her off midsentence. I didn't want to hear the excuses he had planned on having someone else tell me. I didn't want to hear of how he needed to 'think things over' or how we 'should take a break'.

_If I don't hear it, it's not true_. I hastily told myself as I fled the car, making my way into the school at a fast pace; fast for humans. The parking lot was practically empty, so I was sure I wouldn't be noticed, and at the time I didn't care. I just wanted to get this day over with.

*****

_School is just as bad as being home._ I thought as I made my way out of the lunchroom. It had been an awkward interval; all of the Cullen's seemed the same way; like they were hiding something from me. I would catch their glances as I worked on my history homework so my mind wouldn't have time to work through the meanings of their bizarre silences.

Now, I was on my way to my favorite class. Favorite all days but today.

_Biology_.

There would be no way to escape my bewildered thoughts as I sat across from an absent Edward.

All through the class I tried to list the things I did wrong in my head, but apart from being a nuisance riling into his business, I couldn't think of any.

From the moment I fell asleep last night to now, I had been condemning myself. Blaming everything on myself. But now that the big picture was painted, I couldn't come up with one way that reprimanded me as being at fault.

Which really fricken' pissed me off.

I had wasted this whole time whining about how if I had just kept my stupid mouth shut, if I had just stayed out of his business. When really it was my business too.

Hadn't I been asking him a question, indicating to the reason why he stopped kissing _me_, why it seemed he was afraid of getting close to _me_, why whenever his touches would get intimate, he would pull away from _me_ as if he had been burned?

I don't know about you, but I sure found a lot of ways his "business" included me.

The final bell rung, signifying the ending of school for that day.

I was more than happy about this as I scrambled through the crowds of rowdy teenagers, excited to get on with their social lives outside of school.

Without Edward, school was nothing. A time filler. Like having to go to the nurse's office when you feel perfectly fine. Something to make the time pass by quicker.

With Edward, school was another advantage of being close to him. A place contaminated with horny teenage boys which he begrudgingly put up with whenever one would talk to me. A place where girls like Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory would try to flirt with him, but it would seem as though he didn't notice them at all while holding my hand.

Thoughts like these; compare school with Edward to school without Edward filled my mind the whole ride home until I pulled into my parking lot.

I sat there for a couple of minutes, a new spark of hope eliciting through my system when I remembered the day Edward had gone hunting so had skipped school. I had come home to him pacing around in my room, anxiously awaiting my arrival.

Would today be the same? Would he be here, once again waiting for my return? Would he scoop me into his arms and kiss me until night fell, whispering sweet nothings to me the whole time?

These probabilities and more gave my body the willpower to scramble out of the car, up the limited steps to the house.

The hope was immediately extinguished as the faint scent of his honey aroma filled my nose, telling me that he hadn't been here since last night.

I trudged to the couch, flopping down and staring at a blank screen that was the television.

Since I had been turned, television held almost no interest for me. Whether it was because events in a vampire's life outshined almost every TV series, or if it was because my highly trained eyes could pick up every movement of every particle, making it hard to concentrate on the story.

With nothing else to do, I walked outside with hopes of catching some small game.

Though, hunting wasn't fun without someone (vampire, preferably) with you, it would be better than sitting at home wallowing in self pity.

XX

An hour later, I found myself wondering through the woods having caught a small fox and a rabbit. I know. I hated killing rabbits, too. But this one was huge and seemed as though it was instigating a fight with a smaller one, so I see it as humane.

As I wondered farther into a part of the woods I had never been in, a strong smell started drifting into my senses, and before long, it was so strong I almost couldn't stand it. And it was gross! I couldn't even explain it! Like a wet dog, or something!

It was possibly one of the worst smells I had ever come into contact with.

Curiosity got the better of me as I staggered forward to find out what the smell was.

It had gotten to an intense point where I could almost taste in, when a horrible growl pierced through the still air.

I shut my eyes tight, hoping beyond belief that it was just an extremely irritable grizzly bear. Surely I could take him on. I was a vampire for God's sake!

But as I turned and saw the huge dog-like creature standing in front of me, teeth bared, I knew there wasn't much chance of me beating… whatever it was.

It growled menacingly, stalking forward towards me. The horrible stench almost immobilized me, but as the creature stood five feet in front of me, my legs found the power to step back.

I cringed as its mouth began foaming with anger and I started trying to think back to what I could have possibly done to upset this wolf-like animal.

It crouched down, getting into an attack stance and my nonexistent heart beat flew to at least one thousand miles a minute.

My back hit a tree as the brown furry creature inched forward ever so slightly.

"Oh, God…" I mumbled my voice laced with fear. _Edward! I'm so sorry! I love you!_ Similar thoughts rang through my mind, hoping someone somewhere could somehow hear them, preferably a Cullen.

Suddenly, as though physically pushed, the giant brown dog sat down in place, teeth still bared. He looked as though he _really_ wanted to attack, but for some reason couldn't.

My breath I hadn't realized I had been holding came out in a _whoosh_ as my arms hung limply by my sides, startled by the intense fear that had pulsed throughout my body.

The animal was still glaring at me, though, my eyes trained on him in a trance-like state. Not that I wanted to, but who knew what would happen the minute I looked away?!

My mind began reeling with escape routes, knowing I would have to take to the trees. It would surely follow me on the ground. I would have to be careful where I lead it. Anywhere close to town and I would have to kill it before it killed a human.

As more strategies trailed through my mind, my brain eliminating the risky and treacherous routes, someone stepped through the trees.

He also smelled of the dog, but in a less flamboyant form. The pieces slowly began clicking together, but not in the correct order. I was as confused, possibly more confused, than when I had woken up a vampire.

"Quil." The rather large, not-so-human, being spoke in a loud affirmative voice. It slightly reminded me of Carlisle's when he was reprimanding his 'children'.

His large black eyes shifted to me, then back to the mongrel.

I suppressed the shiver that threatened to roll my spine as I realized they were secretly communicating. What were they? Vampire hunters? No… they seemed much worse. As though they weren't human.

"What reason do you have for crossing our lands, leech?"

I blinked.

Well, according to his nickname for me, he knew what I was. Unless he addressed everyone that way –

A loud bark, almost like a whine interrupted my train of thought, and my eyes widened, turning to the dog.

_Great. This whole time I wasted standing against a tree, and they were plotting my demise. _

The human shaped giant silenced the mongrel with an icy stare, the dog looking down ashamed.

"Are you with the Cullen clan?"

His voice had turned incensed, and I realized I hadn't answered his first question.

"Kind of, and I didn't know these were _your lands_."

"You're on _our_ side of the border. Were you hunting?"

I nodded numbly, my mind becoming jumbled up in both the smell and intensity in the air.

"Humans?!" he roared, and the mongrel growled loudly. Both their eyes turned livid, and I saw the fraction of a second pass by between them, debating my life or death.

_Oh, God! If its death, just get it over with!_

Before I had time to plead myself innocent of feeding off humans, the dog jumped towards me, his claws extended out as were his vicious looking teeth. I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth.

I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impact of the dog as it inched closer, knowing there was no one out of this hell hole.

A loud crash caused my eyes to fly open.

It sounded as though two rocks had crashed, and I watched with horror as Edward collided with the beast. They fell to the ground and the dog rolled on its back to get back on all fours as Edward jumped up.

"Edward. That is enough." Carlisle's voice rang clear through the air as he appeared through the trees, Emmett and Jasper in tow. Their hair was all windblown and I could tell they had been running a faster pace than normal to get here. I thanked the Heavens above for my family, and for Alice's gift which most likely lead them onto what was happening.

Edward heeded Carlisle's instructions, but stood in front of the beast, a slow but deadly growl slowly eliciting from his chest. The beast was no different in stance, crouched at the ready of an attack moment.

I wanted to run in between the two so the dog wouldn't be able to hurt Edward, but my legs weren't working as I willed them to move forward.

Edward seemed to realize what I was trying to do, for he turned his head, shooting a menacing glare at me, telling me to stay put. I looked over at Carlisle for help, but he just nodded. Edward wouldn't disobey Carlisle's warning.

Emmett was standing beside Carlisle, clearly wanting to fight. He stood his ground though, knowing it would just put us all in more danger. I internally sighed with relief that Emmett realized this. He wasn't one to understand danger.

"Carlisle Cullen. One of your own has stepped onto our boundary line. You know the consequences," the black haired man lowered his voice, obviously showing distant respect for the leader of the coven, but still flexing his power.

"I decree that I do indeed understand the consequences. And normally we would follow through," Edward quickly shot him a look, though Carlisle ignored it, "but Isabella is the newest member of our coven. She has yet to learn of the treaty we created."

The enormous man's eyes shifted to me, scaling my body almost as if seeing if I was worthy of such a position in the family. At least that's what it seemed as though he were doing. I knew I was no longer worthy of the Cullen's. I would leave the country if it meant keeping them and Edward safe.

I definitely no longer deserved Edward's love. Not that I ever did. And not that he still loved me.

The puzzle was quickly building in my mind.

Maybe everyone would be better off if I _did_ leave….

**Hey, I know this chapter ended in a cliffy, but I'm really tired right now and I have to wake up at 3am to catch a flight out of the state DX So, I figured I would end this chapter there, and post as soon as I can next, which will probably be within the next two days. **

**A three hour plane ride both ways with nothing to do but type up chapters, I'm sure I'll get something done =] Review, please! And thank you to all that do! I read every single on of them! They are my reasons for existence. Well… you know. Besides other important things… like Edward Cullen…….**


	19. Decisions with No Answers

**Hey guys, so as I promised I am typing this on my flight. I had to change seats though because the guy I was originally sitting next to got air sick and started throwing up (ew!), but it's okay because they moved me to first class since there weren't any seats left!!!!!! SO now I get a comfy seat and a table to rest my laptop on!! And snacks!!! **

**I don't own Twilight, but I do, however own this story!**

_**From the last chapter:**_

_The enormous man's eyes shifted to me, scaling my body almost as if seeing if I was worthy of such a position in the family. At least that's what it seemed as though he were doing. I knew I was no longer worthy of the Cullen's. I would leave the country if it meant keeping them and Edward safe. _

_I definitely no longer deserved Edward's love. Not that I ever did. And not that he still loved me. _

_The puzzle was quickly building in my mind._

_Maybe everyone would be better off if I did leave…. _

_Bella POV_

My train of thought was interrupted as the beast walked towards me, the hair on his back standing on end like a cat's when he's frightened.

"Leave her alone." Edward's command came out in a string of growls and hisses, his eyes now fully black. He crouched down into a defensive position from where he was, noticeably willing to attack the moment the animal laid a hand… or paw on me.

Carlisle raised his hand towards Edward, but he stayed in a cynical position though his eyes trailed over to where Carlisle was standing.

"It's not our fault that you haven't taught her the ways of your living around here, Carlisle. I demand that you allow us to kill her as our treaty holds of a consequence for breaking the rules. If you don't, we will have no choice but to attack your entire coven."

Edward hissed loudly and I saw Emmett and Jasper take an attack stance, silently walking in front of me.

_Damn it, Bella! Now I have everyone risking their lives to save me!_

I gasped and stepped through the small gap left between Emmett and Jasper that Edward had been lithely moving to block.

"No!" Everyone's eyes turned to mine. Some fearful, some callous.

"I'll go with you. Just don't hurt them. They didn't do anything. It's my fault, not theirs!"

I caught Edward's stare out of the corner of my eye. Our half a second lock of gaze captivated Edward's golden eyes running wild with a mixture of emotions from fear to anger to distress.

I looked away to the man in front of me, not wanting to look at Edward again, though I could still feel his gaze upon me.

"No, Bella." Carlisle stepped closer to the man and the beast immediately took a defensive stance besides the man, willing to protect him at any cost.

I realized that this man must be the beast's leader somehow. Maybe he was his sidekick in vampire hunting?

I felt myself being pulled back and I willingly went; the courage that had surged through my body quickly evaporating. I no longer wanted to go with the being and his bizarre companion. I wanted to stay with the love of my life and his family. But I would go if it meant protecting them.

I looked down at the pale hand wrapped around my wrist, then up into the owners face.

Pianist fingers wrapped securely around my wrist, slowly pulling me back to where Edward stood. The movement was so unbearably slow even for a human, but I understood the slothfulness to it. Quick movements could set everything into a blur. Create engagement where none was wanted.

Eventually, what seemed like hours later, I was close enough to Edward that my hand reached out and grabbed onto the corner of his shirt, the next closest thing I could reach.

"We will find another way. We will move from the state if we have to. But we will not be involved in a war with you and your pack. Nor will we give you Bella, no matter how willing she is to go."

I swallowed, a hard lump in my throat that one would associate with crying, a thing of the past.

I had never felt so much a part of a family before in my life, and these little words spoken in a finalizing voice by Carlisle were setting my life in place.

I watched, holding my breath as the being seemed to think through his actions.

I could feel Edward's body tense beside me at something one of the creatures were thinking, making my mind fly through a number of ways to keep my loved ones safe, once again.

His fingers around my wrist moved down to entangle through my fingers so he was holding my hand.

I so badly wanted to turn to him and apologize for everything I had done wrong that had made him so upset before I was to be killed for violating the "treaty". I wanted to kiss him one last time. Hear him whisper my name, his voice filled with love and need. Feel his lips pressed against my hair as I curled against him in bed. Hear his voice humming that soft melody as I fell into unconsciousness. Have his golden eyes be the first thing I see when I wake, reminding me why I fell in love with him in the first place.

So many things I wanted to do or see or feel or hear just one last time before I died, and the only one I could fulfill was grasping his hand.

_Well, then I am going to make the most of this_ I thought as I shut my eyes closed tight, waiting for my verdict to be revealed. I focused on the feel of his cool skin against my palm, the slight tingling sensation that coursed up my arm at his gentle touch, the rhythm of his thumb as it stroked absentmindedly across the back of my hand.

His hand stilled in mine, and I knew it was in reaction to what he had heard the man thinking.

_Oh, God! This is it! He made up his mind. I'm going to die! _

I was about to lower my shield and reveal my love for Edward, but a release of breath distracted me.

It seemed as though Edward exhaled in relief, his sweet breath flying across my face.

Hope bubbled through my system. Unless Edward was happy that I was going to die, I was sure the next words out of the man's mouth were going to be fair.

Edward's hand left mine, both of his going to his face.

"Since this is the first time we have had any trouble with your coven, we will let it go this time. But you will hear me when I say that this is the one and only time we will bypass the crossing of a leech across the treaty. Next time, the girl won't be so lucky. Consider this a warning."

"Thank you. We appreciate your hospitality," Carlisle said, his tone laced with reassurance.

With a stern nod the man and beast turned and disappeared through the woods.

Carlisle sighed, looking up at the sky with relief.

"Carlisle…" I started, walking towards him after a few seconds of agitated silence, my voice full of deep regret and sorrow.

"Bella," he interrupted me, looking down at me. He placed his hands on my shoulders like a father would do to his daughter when assuring her.

"Don't apologize. This was in no way your fault. I should have taken the time to warn you of the treaty. I am just glad that you are okay…" I sad smile etched its way onto my face as Carlisle's eyes shone with elation and relief. He pulled me into a hug, and then kissed the top of my head and proceeded back the way he came.

"Don't scare us like that, Bella! Geesh! You almost gave the whole family a heart attack, sis!"

Emmett pulled me into one of his bear hugs, Jasper following suit.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Jasper messed up my hair, his face still coming out of the initial shock of an alleged fight and he and Emmett followed Carlisle back to the Cullen mansion.

"Race ya!" I heard Emmett yell as he blew past Jasper, who quickly began gaining speed.

I turned away from their asinine game, my attention returning to the Greek God standing beside me.

Before he was in full view, his hands were on me, checking for injuries.

"Edward, you don't have to do that. I'm fine," I groaned, my voice beset with repentance.

I looked up at him but quickly looked back down as I realized he was trying to avoid my gaze.

_And why shouldn't he? It's not like I haven't given him reason to._

I took small pleasure in the way his hands ran up my sides, feeling as though this could be the last time this would happen. It wouldn't surprise me if he asked me to leave, himself. It's not like I deserved him and his family any longer. I let them all down by being careless in my wondering around the woods, attracting unwanted attention from… I don't know what they are.

"What were they? They weren't vampires." I voiced my question to Edward as he scrutinized my left arm, figuring he would know as much as Carlisle did about them.

"And they smelled." I added as an afterthought, my nose scrunching up in disgust.

Edward chuckled; a short, humorless laugh. Distant from his usual carefree one I was used to.

"Werewolves. Or shape-shifters as they are often called." His hands stopped their descent of lesion-searches, but stayed on my arms.

He bent down so his eyes were level with mine. Now I was the one trying to avoid his gaze.

I stared down at my feet, my lips pursing in disdain as my decisions came rushing back to me from the past few days like a whirlpool.

"Bella," my thoughts froze at Edward's pained quiet outburst, "Please look at me."

When I didn't, his finger moved to my chin, tilting it up and forcing me to look at him.

His eyes were still black, but slowly changing into their smooth gold shade.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Edward seemed to notice, because his hard face slowly began to loosen and he sighed, a tired sound.

"Isabella. This is not your fault. If it is anyone's, it is mine. I failed to mention the treaty to you. So _I_ am sorry for putting you into danger."

"Edward!" my hands flew up to my eyes with frustration. "You always apologize for things you have no control over! Please, just blame me! Blame me for nearly putting your family and you in danger -"

"_Our_ family," he interrupted, correcting me. "And the only thing I blame you for, though I still hold myself at the most fault for, is for you nearly getting yourself killed by agreeing to hand yourself over to them. How could you do that, Bella?! Do you _want_ to be killed?!"

I shook my head, expecting tears to be flowing from my tear ducts, but of course they weren't.

"Huh? Is that what you are trying to do?!" he moved closer to me, his voice enveloped with anger. "Are you trying to get yourself taken away from me?!" His low growl escaped with the last words as he pushed me back against the tree behind me, his body flush against mine.

I knew that I should be a blubbering mess, scared out of my wits by his tone of voice; but at the moment, the only thing I could think of was the feel of his body against my every curve.

My breath came in quick surges, barely satiating the natural need to breath.

Edward's eyes which were large abysses of black shifted from my eyes to my mouth. His hands reached up to the back of my neck, his fingers knotting into the locks of my hair and roughly pulled my mouth to his.

I moaned against his lips, my waver melting as he stepped closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

His normally loving kiss was filled with desperation, need, and a growing hunger as his hands traveled up my waist, hesitantly, but feverishly to the skin beneath my shirt. Heat trailed under his touches, sending my senses into frenzy.

His tongue hungrily swept across my bottom lip, pleading for access which I happily gave him.

It was like he was everywhere. All five senses getting an equal advantage of him. I sighed, slouching against his body. It didn't matter though. His hold on me was so tight, so unyielding like he was afraid I would disappear the second he let go, I barely fell against him at all. I was pretty sure I was still standing up straight.

He stepped closer to me, pushing me harder against the tree and, for a second I wondered what would happen if we fell through but as soon as the thought was out wondering around in my mind, Edward pulled away, like he always does.

He rested his forehead against mine, our breaths mixed between us as they came out in quick pants, his hands still underneath my shirt keeping my struggle for air a constant strain.

His fingers trickled compassionately across the skin of my stomach, causing my eyelids to slide shut in pleasure.

His lips pressed against mine once again before he pulled away, dropping my shirt and grabbing onto my hand.

It was as if he wasn't even affected.

"We should get back to the house before we are caught lingering on prohibited lands," Edward said, one eyebrow shooting up into an infinite arch as he gave me a sidelong glance. "Again," he added as an after thought.

Mutely I agreed, holding onto his one hand with both of mine and leaning into him. I was positively sure I would be in no condition to walk by myself after that kiss, and the feel of his hands against my skin still lingering, threatening to sweep my legs right out from under me.

"I love you," I murmured breathlessly, staring up into his now gleaming golden orbs.

"As I love you."

His voice held promises of eternal love, but also uncertainty.

"And I'm not trying to kill myself, or get myself taken away from you," I whispered.

He stopped walking, looking down at me.

"Well, good. I would never allow it anyway." His face and voice turned serious as he cupped my face in his hand, "But please, Bella. Don't ever do this to me again. It… unnerves me to see you in situations like these. I don't like the feeling of helplessness I obtain as you try to turn yourself over to the enemy, knowing I can't stop you if it's what you really want."

I sighed, the corners of my mouth turning down in disapproval at his accusation.

"It's _not_ what I want. But I would do it if it meant keeping you safe."

He closed his eyes, his face twisting into one of anguish like he had just heard dreadful news.

"Don't talk like that…" his voice trailed away as his eyes opened, a forlorn look to them.

Something dawned on me as his finger came up to trail across my cheek; a wire connecting in my brain.

"So, is this why you weren't in school today? Because of the… the _werewolves_?"

For a strange reason, I felt like a child on the edge of her seat as the lady opened the closet which held the monster. This is what I had been wondering all day. Whether or not he was still angry with me. And what I had done.

He nodded slowly, his expression bemused by my wishful tone.

"Yes. I was going to make you stay with me, but Alice had already left to pick you up; and I did not want to upset you where you needn't be upset, although now I am rethinking my choices. We could have avoided this whole situation…" he trailed off, looking up at the sky in some deep thought.

I sighed with relief, trying to keep it as silent as possible, but of course Edward heard it.

"Why? Did you think I was skipping school? That's Emmett's job. Not mine."

I shook my head, hoping he would let it go, but naturally, Edward being the overprotective, inquisitive vampire boyfriend he is, didn't.

"Then what? Please tell me, Bella. It is hard enough as it is not being able to hear your every thought,"

"Not that you would want to hear them." I mumbled in response.

His penetrating golden orbs pierced through my soul as he mockingly glared at me.

"Okay, fine!" I sighed, giving up.

"I thought you were still mad at me from the other night and so didn't want to see me."

My words came out in a rush, my face heating at the release of my belief.

In a few seconds, Edward's roaring laughter was bouncing off the trees to my ears. Usually, I loved the sound of his laughter, but not when I am looking for answers.

I huffed, tramping my way through the woods pretty unsuccessfully as my foot connected with a deracinated root. I stumbled forward, waiting for impact with the ground which never came as cold arms wrapped around my waist.

Edward pulled me up against him, the humor still in his eyes, but no longer spelled out in laughter.

"And this is why I can hardly let you out of my sight," he muttered as he pulled me upright.

I quirked an eyebrow at him and he sobered, looking over at me and started walking again.

"I wasn't upset with you that night, I was upset with myself." I blinked. _Didn't seem that way._

"Upset about what?" I questioned. Edward would never just tell you what you wanted to hear. No, you had to take baby steps to get to the answer.

"I'll tell you someday, but not now." He turned his head away from me, looking off to the right but I could see the hint of a smile illuminating his features.

I sighed.

I was never one for patience.

**So I know I said I would have this chapter by last weekend, but I didn't. I didn't get to finish it on the plane ride back because I fell asleep. And I wish I could blame jetlag on not updating but there was no change in time to where I went, so I really don't have an excuse except that being with family **_**really**_** tires you out. =D Sorry if you don't like how this chapter ended. I don't really care for the ending but I'm having major writers block so I'm just going to post it. Review, please!! And thanks to all my readers!!! **


	20. Complications?

**I don't own Twilight. **

**I got a review from crazykid2655, and it made me laugh, so I just thought I would post it XD **

CRAZY PEOPLE: i run with wolves

ME: dibs on fang

Annocer: If this doesn't light your fire, well...then...your forest's wet

GO TEAM EDWARD!

_Bella POV_

After an hour or so of wondering through the woods in silence, the large windowed-house came into view, Esme outside on the porch looking towards our direction, a relieved look etched across her motherly face.

Edward groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Just… complications…" he trailed off as Alice and Rosalie both ran outside to stand on either side of Esme.

"Like what?" I questioned, a small giggle coming from me as Alice started jumping in place as we stepped through the last few trees, revealing ourselves to our awaiting company.

"Esme… and everyone really, were upset with me for not having warned you earlier. But Esme mostly, what with her caring nature."

I looked down as a smile erupted across my face. I didn't remember my parents well enough to reminisce on what being loved felt like, but it was slowly dwindling back to memory having a near constant surrounding of Cullen members.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" Esme's voice drifted across the field between us, her tone somehow still gentle but with a twist of virulent fire.

He cringed, his stride slowing as we neared the porch.

Within half a second, I was tackled by a spiky haired pixie. I laughed as I staggered backwards, trying to plant my feet on firm ground.

"Hi, Alice," I giggled as my hand patted her back.

"I'm glad you're okay! I wanted to come help fight but Jasper wouldn't let me," she pouted, looking past me at Edward.

"Well, there wasn't a fight. Thank God. So you didn't miss much," she smiled, grabbing my hand and tugging me to the front door as Edward snorted incredulously.

"Didn't miss much…" I heard him mumbling under his breath as Esme hugged me tightly.

"I'm glad you're okay, Bella," she kissed my forehead, then continued her angry trek towards Edward who was sub sequentially looking at the ground.

I chuckled, watching the emotions flicker across his face before Rosalie grabbed my arm.

"Why don't we go inside before the claws come out," she nodded towards Esme who had already began pointing her finger accusingly at Edward, words of allegation shooting out of her mouth.

Edward looked like he really needed to find a place to hide.

*****

"See?!" I yelled excitedly pointing at the clock on the table beside Edward's rather large bed.

We had just finished with an argument where Edward tried to prove to me that whenever we are alone in his room, we're interrupted by someone (Alice, as he had pointed out several times) every five minutes.

Well, according to the clock; five minutes and twenty seconds had gone by with _no_ interruptions.

I liked the Cullen household. I preferred it over mine. It was the constant movement of people, well vampires; that gave it the homey feeling. One I hadn't felt in over thirty years.

My house was full of quiet, boring, itinerant air.

So it came as a surprise to me when Edward started up this argument. _Argument_ isn't the right word for it. More like _disagreement_, seeing as it was filled with chaste kisses between every other word.

"Fine. Perhaps you are correct. But seeing as…" he trailed off, looking over at the clock on his table, and then to the watch around his wrist, "_that_ clock," he pointed to the standing one, "is a minute off, you may not be so accurate."

I crossed my arms, stubborn as I have always been, and pulled my face away as Edward leaned in to place a kiss on my lips.

"Not so fast, Romeo," he quirked an eyebrow at my nickname for him but sat back nonetheless.

I grabbed onto his wrist so I could look at the time on his watch.

"Hey!" I gasped, looking over at the clock alongside the bed, then back to the watch.

"That clock's not a minute off! They're both-" I was cut off abruptly by Edward's mouth molding my words into incoherent mumbles, quickly turning into moans.

Our lips molded together perfectly, reflecting the way our bodies clung to each other.

He tried to push me back onto the bed, but I refused. I was always on the bottom. I hooked my leg around his hip, pulling myself up to straddle his waist.

His lips pulled into a smile against mine, causing my heart to flutter. Kissing a smile was like kissing cotton candy. Soft and sweet. Though I had no memory of kissing cotton candy from my human life.

Vampires tend to take the most important, vivid memories with them to the undead. So unless my human life revolved around an affair with cotton candy, I was really not surprised that I couldn't even remember what it tasted like.

Edward's hand moved from my hip to the back of my leg, running along my thigh. I bit onto his bottom lip, causing him to growl and fist my shirt into a bunch with his other hand. This time I was the one to smile against his mouth.

In response, he lifted his palm from my thigh, switching to running his fingertips dangerously high on my leg, but not quite to the places that ached for him.

I sucked in a gasp from the sensations running through my body, and Edward's mouth moved to attack my throat. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as his teeth nibbled the sensitive skin of my neck, his tongue darting out and sweeping across my pulse point.

Millions of sensible shiver shot through my upper body, causing my legs to tighten around Edward's waist. He groaned, his mouth heatedly moving back to mine from its assault on my throat.

Our breathing started to become rapid, the heat in the room intensifying until a sardonic voice came from the hallway outside the door.

"There is a _lot_ of sexual tension around this area of the house, isn't there Jasper?"

_Emmett. _My thoughts growled at me as my attention shifted from Edward to the door.

It never opened, though there were short stifles of chortles before Rosalie was heard yelling at

Emmett to get inside their room.

Edward pushed me off of him, and reluctantly I obliged, laying flat on my back and making

friends with the ceiling.

I could feel Edward's eyes on me, but I wasn't about to tell him he was right. That we do often get interrupted here because that would mean he won. And we would be spending more time at my house. Though now that I thought harder about it, it _would_ be nice to do anything we wanted without getting disrupted. Not that Edward would allow us to do things we _wouldn't_ want to get caught doing….

I bit my lip, Edward's intense gaze still on me making it harder to ignore.

I sighed, then turned my head to face him. His golden orbs probed into mine, like he was reading my soul. They were bright, almost sparkling. Something that I hadn't seen much in the past few days. That I hadn't seen _at all_ in the past few days.

My hand reached up, almost as if on instinct, and ran along his firm jaw bone; relishing in the way my hand felt as though it were on fire, a pleasant feeling, from every touch. His bronze hair illuminated by the golden pillow beneath his head.

His hand reached up, grabbing mine that was continuing its descent down his jaw.

He placed a kiss to my palm, his golden eyes on mine the entire time.

His eyes narrowed, as if he was studying me. Though it seemed as if he were mulling over a decision.

"Bella…" he murmured, his voice full of love.

"Marry me."

_Oh, God._

**Sorry, it's a short chapter. But it's a quick update! Yay! Review, please!**

**What do you think Bella will say?!?!?!**


	21. Rings and Families

**I don't own Twilight!**

"_Bella…" he murmured, his voice full of love._

"_Marry me."_

_Oh, God._

_Bella POV_

Edward watched my reaction as I laid there staring at him, unmoving. I was pretty sure I hadn't actually had a physical reaction yet, besides my whole body freezing into infinity, but on the inside my mind was racing, my dead heart pounding out of my chest.

It was as though I was about to explode.

_Answer him, God damn it!_

I wanted to look away, but his piercing gaze held me. I still hadn't answered him, let alone show any sign that I was going to.

My mouth opened with the intention of words to come out. Of course I was going to say yes. I would be the most stupid… idiotic person in the world if I didn't! Now all I needed to do was say it out loud.

My mouth shut again, making me feel like a fish out of water searching for something to satiate my need to breathe. Though I was searching for something to satiate my need for a voice.

I watched, my heart breaking with each passing second as the bright twinkle in Edward's eyes slowly died with my lack of answer.

I inhaled deeply, telling my body that _this_ time words were going to come.

"Yes."

His eyes, which had traded their glance to the sheets, flicked back to mine.

"Yes…" he trailed off like he was waiting for me to put it into a full sentence; ensuring I was answering his question… well statement. His eyebrows shot up in an endless arch, wary of my meaning.

It was like we were both hanging on our last breath, the answers clearly in between us, but not out in the open. They were needed to be said.

"Yes, I will marry you…"

The world froze around us, both of our expressions in their previous stance; my words circling through the air, warming it.

Suddenly, as if on a flash of instinct, Edward sat up, pulling me along with him since he still had a hold on my hand.

"Wait here," he told me in a rushed tone, and then disappeared from the room.

I was left with my thoughts, even if for only half a second. I barely had time to register what had happened from the second he pulled me up.

He returned, less frazzled but still animated in his movements.

I watched as he approached the bed, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black dress pants, me positioned close to the edge as my body subconsciously moved closer to him.

His hands made their way to the sides of my face, pulling my face up to look into his eyes.

"You said yes to… _marrying _me...?" his eyes were swimming, a deep look of misunderstanding in them.

My hands came up on either side of _his _face, mirroring his earlier movements.

"Yes. I said yes to _marrying_ you," the excitement of my statement was slowly bubbling up inside of me as the realization gradually became relevant throughout my mind.

Apparently, the realization hit Edward like a storm before it hit me as a large grin appeared across his face, all of his perfect white teeth showing.

He pulled my face to his quickly, crashing his lips to mine.

I responded enthusiastically, my hands leaving his face and threw themselves around his neck. My fingers kneaded into his bronze mess, the softness mixing with the touch-senses on my fingers.

His thumbs stroked across my cheeks lovingly, pulling me closer up against him. I lifted myself so I was leaning on my knees, stretching up to reach him more efficiently. He was pretty tall…

He pulled away, encircling his arms around my waist and lifted me up against him. I let out a quiet carefree laugh, bending my knees behind me as Edward bent backwards slightly.

He put me down a few seconds later, an electric vibration rumbling through his chest as he chuckled.

He pressed his lips against my hair, and then hovered next to my right ear.

"I believe it is time we break the news. Everyone is waiting for us," he pulled back, his eyebrows once again arched as a sly smile came across his lips.

"But before we do," he paused, reaching into his left pocket and pulling out a small black box. I could have sworn my heart beat back to life and went soaring throughout my body as he held the box open in front of me and pulled out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen in my life.

I gazed at the gold banded ring in front of my eyes as he lifted my left hand to slip it on my ring finger. It was beautiful. ___The face was a long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones. My breathing quickened as he slid the delicate ring on my finger, his thumb rubbing across the diamonds causing them to sparkle individually._

___I looked up at him, his eyes already on me, agape._

_"__Edward…" I trailed off, not being able to put the beauty into words. _

___His smile lit up my world as my eyes trailed back down to the ring on my finger._

_"__It was my mother's. She gave it to me before she died, and now it is yours." _

___My eyes stung as unshed tears built up behind the rims. I bit my lip, my finger grazing over the band and face of the ring._

_"__It's beautiful," I whispered. _

___And it was. The most beautiful piece of jewelry I had ever seen in my life, and I was sure I was completely and utterly unworthy of such a fine piece owned by Elizabeth Masen. _

_"__Come." Edward demanded softly, extending his hand for me to take. _

___I did as he led me out the door and down the stairs to the living room._

___The apprehensive sentiment I felt wearing the ring was pushed to the back of my mind as the excited faces of my family came into sight from beneath the stairs. _

___I felt the smile sketching its way onto my face from the scene of the Cullen's. _

___Alice was jumping in place, clapping her hands excitedly, a wide smile across her pixie face. Esme had the same excitement illuminating through her, though not as physical as Alice. _

___Emmett's face was pulled into a boyish grin like I child who just found out where the cookie jar was hidden. Rose, standing next to him, smiled as she saw us._

___Carlisle was smiling patiently, looking happy and proud of his eldest son. _

_"__You were right. They were waiting," I mumbled to Edward as Alice ran forward with a squeal, capturing Edward and I in one of her tight embraces. _

_This is going to be a hectic week…._

___**The quote "**__The face was a long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones.____**" Was a quote from Eclipse!! So now you have the answer to the question! Some people have been questioning whether or not I am going to do a sequel to this story, and I'm sorry to say that I don't think I will :( Though, I have another story in mind, so keep a lookout for that after this one is done :)**_** I will post the summary for the story later… when I get an accurate summary for it, lol! Review, please!!**


	22. Alice's Problem

**I don't own Twilight.**

_Bella POV_

"The white would be a lovely comparison to your dress. But the pink would give the whole scene that charismatic look. On the other hand, the _beige_ would complement the top of your veil-"

"Alice!" she looked up as if startled to realize we were still there.

"I haven't even _picked out_ a veil yet, let alone gone dress shopping!"

She pursed her lips, but looked back down at the Bride's Magazine she had been flipping through.

We had been on table covers for the past hour. Excuse me, _Alice_ had been on table covers for the past hour. _I _had been pretending to listen, throwing in a nod, or an "Ahh," every other minute.

Edward and I hadn't even gotten around to picking a date out for our wedding yet. Heck, we had only been engaged for one whole day! But, Alice will be Alice. She had been prepared for this day from the moment the vision of Edward proposing came into her mind.

Practically the second everyone had congratulated us, she had dragged Edward and I into his room, her hands full of magazines. At the moment, there were twenty strewn across the bed, another ten thrown around the floor, and another I am positive another hundred in her closet somewhere.

"Bella!" I was pulled out my thoughts by a tiny hand waving in front of my face.

"Are you even paying attention?!" I blinked as a picture of a vase was flown in front of my eyes.

"What? I mean, yeah. Okay, that sounds good…" Edward chuckled from behind me and I groaned out loud.

"Alice! I don't feel like doing this anymore! We've been looking at these stupid magazines for seven hours! Can't we just take a break?!" Edward's hand trailed up my arm, rubbing with his palm and creating friction.

"Fine," she huffed, cross. I sighed as she closed the magazine, marking its page with the picture of the vase. My head fell back, resting on Edward's chest, my eyes falling closed.

His lips brushed against my forehead, initiating a content sigh from me.

How many more days must I bore through this? Why was Alice even having me pick out setups for tables? It's not like we would need them. Nobody at the wedding can eat; they are all vampires. Unless…

My eyes shot open, fearing the worst. This _was_ just a small wedding, right? No big gathering of humans, right?

"Edward, it's just going to be us at the wedding, right?"

"Well, I do expect our family to be there," I rolled my eyes as a smirk grew across his Greek God-like face.

"I know, but I mean it's just going us eight, right? No humans?"

"Not unless you wish for humans to be present," I dropped my head, thanking the heavens above that my fiancé had a personality nowhere _close_ to Alice's.

"Good," I mumbled, turning my body so I could nestle into Edward's side. I felt as though today was one of the most tiring I had ever had, complete with no communication with anyone whatsoever other than 'yes's and 'no's to Alice.

I yawned, and then lifted my head to peer at the time. It was only six o'clock in the evening. I moaned, lying back down. We had school tomorrow, something I had my mind set against.

"What's wrong, love?" I sighed, closing my eyes and resting my head on Edward's chest.

"Nothing. I'm just tired and _don't_ want to go to school tomorrow."

He chuckled quietly, his fleeting lips moving down my neck.

"I'm sure that can be arranged…" he murmured against my skin.

I tilted my head up, searching for one thing. A few seconds later, my search unconcluded, my lips parted.

"Is the sun supposed to come out tomorrow?!" Hope wavered in my tone, along with excitement. Since I moved to Forks, I've only seen the sun twice.

"No," His lips still at my throat, but closer to my mouth than before.

"Of course not," I murmured, my senses on the search again.

Edward chuckled, lifting his mouth away from my skin. I could have sworn my heart was beating out of my chest waiting for his lips on mine.

"The sun is not making an appearance, but I have not hunted in a while. Perhaps we can take a _hiking_ trip?" I wanted to open my eyes, but I was too tired to make the effort.

"Can we?!" my voice came out hopeful, my tone excited. Not only would I not have to wake up at the break of dawn, but I would get to spend the entire day with Edward. No classrooms to separate us.

"Yes. I am most certain we will not fall behind in class, anyway."

Though I couldn't see him, I could picture one of his perfect eyebrows raised in that sarcastic way of his. His lips twisted into that crooked smile that took my breath away. It was almost laughable the way he dazzled me when I wasn't even looking.

"You should get some sleep, love. You seem very exhausted, what with your head lolling around…" Sarcasm practically seeped through his words, hitting me in the face like a ton of bricks.

My eyebrows shot down in frustration as my eyes flew open. I felt my face flush with the proximity of his face to mine. One of his Adonis eyebrows arched in that perfect way I had imagined a mere minute or two ago.

_NO!_ My mind nearly shouted the word at me. _Don't let him dazzle you! Don't let him win!_

"That's not why my head-" I started roughly, defensively; but was cut short by a pair of cool lips on mine.

His mouth moved slowly, sweetly against my heated one. It was unfair, I realized, that I was always on the bottom in these types of situations. He always had the upper hand – was always in control.

Though, I was pretty certain he would somehow find a way to be in control if _I_ was on top.

He pulled away before I could act out my new theory and I sighed, my eyes sliding open.

"And I know why your head was moving. I just like watching you beg," he smiled cynically and I rolled my eyes. _Men_.

He pushed the duvet over me, lying himself on top of it, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Goodnight, love."

I giggled quietly as his nose buried into my hair, tickling the back of my neck.

I would have to remember to buy more strawberry shampoo….

**Another chapter! I know, not much happened. But next chapter Edward reveals what's been on his mind while they are enjoying a day at the meadow!! And now you see Alice for what she truly is… a shopaholic-planaholic monster. **

**Review, please!**


	23. Truth Be Told

**I do not own Twilight.**

_Bella POV_

I stood, staring at the meadow in awe. It was funny. I had been here at least five times before, but each time made me feel as though it was the first. Like everything changed; while nothing did.

"It's beautiful… still."

"Yes, I know."

I looked over, and as expected (and mystifyingly) Edward was looking at me, not the scenery of the meadow.

I rolled my eyes, a short laugh emitting from between my lips.

"You obviously do not see clearly," I snorted, shaking my head incredulously. It always perplexed me as to how Edward saw me. His vision was reversed: seeing me as perfect, but himself as flawed.

"And _you_ obviously do not comprehend the meanings of beauty," he smiled cheekily at me, his eyes gleaming with reverence.

I ignored his statement, knowing it unfathomably false. If I didn't _comprehend the meanings of beauty_ then in reality, Edward would be imperfect. Which was completely and utterly untrue.

He chuckled and held out his hand to me which I dotingly took, and led me to a tree in the far corner of the field. He sat, his back against the trunk and pulled me down between his legs so my back rested against his chest.

I sighed, content and leaned my head against his left shoulder.

In our meadow, we were free to do what we wanted, whenever we wanted since we were hardly ever interrupted. It was nice and welcoming, although Edward wouldn't allow us to do things that demanded no interruptions. _And I am going to try and change that_, I thought. It wasn't like anything bad could come out of it; we were engaged and would spend the rest of eternity together and it was physically impossible for vampires to get pregnant or obtain sexually transmitted diseases.

"What are you thinking about, love?"

I blushed at Edward's sudden requisite. I wasn't about to tell him I was pondering over our sexual lives… or lack thereof.

His cool lips pressed against the heated skin of my cheek, his nose skimming along the side of my face.

"Bella…" he urged after my lack of response.

"I… nothing," I murmured trying to keep my voice from shaking as his fingers joined the pursuit of his aristocratic nose, tickling the thin skin of my arm.

He groaned, leaning forward so he could (successfully) dazzle me into telling him what was on my mind. But to no avail. I looked straight ahead into the forested edge of the meadow, willing myself not to give in and look into his swimming golden orbs.

"Please," he murmured, his voice buzzing into my ears like a drug, effectively putting me on a high.

"You _know_ it makes me crazy when you do that," he whispered, his voice laced with silk.

I turned my head, pressing my lips to his and tried to turn my body, but Edward wasn't having any of that. He kept a tight hold on my waist, making me strain my neck to reach his mouth.

Our kiss soon turned heated, feverish and his hands momentarily loosened around my waist, allowing me to turn my body. His hands tightened around my hips again and I thought he was going to push me away, but instead he lifted my body up – never breaking the kiss – and turned me around so I was facing him, sitting on his lap.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying to keep our bodies as close as possible for as long as possible.

His hands moved, unhesitatingly, to the bottom of my shirt, fingering the cloth there. I whimpered as his fingers trickled around the delicate skin just below my navel, at the same time as he took my bottom lip in between his teeth, nibbling sharply along the edge.

His hands plunged up my shirt quickly, leaving a trail of fire in their wake and I inhaled raucously against his mouth. I squirmed under his touch, my skin and body hot and bothered from his contact, when suddenly… he stopped.

He froze, his hands and lips freezing in place along with the pleasure and delight that was steadily bubbling up inside of me.

He pulled his mouth from mine, his eyes closed as his hands slipped out from underneath my shirt and slowly fixed the cloth back into place. I loosened my legs from around his hips, but didn't move them, keeping us somehow touching.

I looked down at my hands as he pulled himself together.

My eyebrows knitted together as a wave of rejection washed over my being. I bit my lip firmly in hopes of keeping in the dry sobs that were threatening to take over my senses.

"Bella…" Edward murmured, tilting my chin up so I would look at him.

"Please don't be upset-"

"Don't be upset?!" I snapped, interrupting him. I had been rejected one too many times, and he always failed to give me answers.

"How do you expect me to _not_ be upset?! You _proposed_ to me and you still don't want me! What? Are we just never going to sleep together?!"

His head snapped towards me from originally looking down, his eyes hard, his mouth in a tight line, and his nostrils flared. I had enraged him immensely.

"_Isabella Marie Swan._ How could you ever _think_ I do not want you?! You are the only thing I want, the only one I see! I would take you right here, right now… but I cannot."

He looked away from me, into the woods to the side of us. His eyes somnolent, the color turning to a hard gold.

My hands went to either side of his strong squared off jaw, rotating his head so he would look at me.

"And why not? Edward, you have to talk to me. If this marriage is going to work, you have to be willing to tell me your problems so we can try to solve them together,"

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"I will not make love to you until the night of our honeymoon. Sex before marriage was not how I was raised. The world may revolve around people and their… tainted thoughts and actions, but I was raised as a gentleman. I was raised to respect a woman, not derail her at every chance I get."

He was watching me wearily, measuring my reaction to his logic.

I couldn't say I was surprised by his reasoning. I had always known from the instant I met Edward that he wasn't changed during these close decades. The old saying _chivalry is dead_ did not apply to Edward whatsoever.

Though his eyes held great vulnerability in revealing logic to me, I couldn't help but to feel slightly exultant. Finding out that the only reason Edward wouldn't have sex with me was because of the way and century he was raised in, and not because he didn't _want me_ covered the depressing hole that was threatening to rip through me commencing rejection.

"Please say something…" I started, his voice cutting through the silence like a knife. I looked back up at his face, his eyes shut in agitation.

I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his until his eyes opened in astonishment.

"I will take that as you are not angry with me?" He whispered after resting his forehead against mine when I pulled away.

I shook my head, the hint of a smile dancing around my lips.

"As long as you want me, I can wait." I smiled, realizing that our relationship was backwards from the norm. Wasn't it usually the guy stating that he will wait?

"Isabella," he straightened, placing his large hands on either side of my face and leaning forward.

"I will always want you. You have no idea the inch of attraction you hold for me. I assure you, the second you are mine legally, you will be mine; mind, body, and soul."

My eyes rolled into the back of my head as his cool lips pressed against my throat.

"I'll be waiting," I whispered breathlessly against his caress of my throat.

"As will I," he murmured.

**There! Another chapter! Review, please! So excited for Thanksgiving, lol!**


	24. Wrongful Reflections

**As always, although I wish it untrue, I don't own Twilight. **

_Bella POV_

"It looks great on you, Bella!" I rolled my eyes, looking at Rose and Esme who were standing by the full length mirror I was standing in front of.

"Alice, don't you think the dress should be a little less…" Esme trailed of, not being able to find the right words.

"Hideous?" Rosalie filled in for her, one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows arching in scorn.

"No… less puffy. Less full."

Alice pursed her lips, grabbing up a handful of the _abnormally _full wedding dress I was thrown into.

"Yes, I see what you mean. Okay! I'll go get another one!" I groaned as she flitted off to the main area.

We had left early in the morning to find a wedding dress for me, and I had been trying on countless dresses non-stop for the past six hours. All under Alice's constant and degrading eye. The one good thing about having Alice help pick out the dress was that she told me what looked good and what didn't. She didn't talk around the bush; just got right to the point.

"It's alright, Bella. You don't have to find _the_ dress today. You still have three months before the wedding." I smiled at Esme's kind words as Rosalie shook her head, disdained. She liked shopping almost as much as Alice, but not when it was for an entire day straight.

Edward and I had decided to get married when our junior years of high school ended, making the wedding a summer one. Alice had rushed around to stores trying to find as many magazines as possible that were based on summer weddings. Sometimes it felt as though _I_ wasn't the one getting married.

I sighed, resting my chin in my palm as I realized I wouldn't be able to see Edward until tomorrow. He had gone out with Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett for a new tuxedo. Alice was a bit upset that she wouldn't be there, stating that she had to make sure the tux went with my dress. Edward had reassured her that the only tux he was going to get was a formal black one with a white undershirt.

"_But the tie-"_she had started in a worried tone before Edward smoothly interrupted her.

"_I will let you pick out. So you can accustom it to match the dress."_

It had kept her contempt knowing that she would have at least _some_ control over the aspect of Edward's suit.

"Here, try this one," I stood up, stretching my legs by standing on my tip-toes.

"Alice can't you just look into the future so you can see which dress I end up picking?" She feigned hurt, placing her tiny hand over her heart.

"Isabella Marie Swan! I am appalled at the lack of joy you have towards picking out your _wedding dress_ – the clothing you are going to where on the happiest day of your life!" I pouted, knowing what she said was true until a mischievous smile came across her face.

"I saw you asking me that, so that is why I graciously shifted through my visions to find the dress you chose, and here it is."

She pulled it up, having to stand on her tip-toes like I had not seconds ago to show the complete length of the dress.

My breath was taken away as my eyes grazed across the smooth white fabric of the cloth.

It was simple, yet elegant. Long, but not too full.

I slipped it on, Rosalie zipping up the back of it.

I turned to face my two sisters and mother before looking at myself, and the gasps elicited from them (besides Alice who was grinning smugly) made my heart soar.

"Bella…" Esme trailed off, a hand over her mouth.

"Turn around," Alice said happily, twirling her finger in the motion she wanted me to copy.

I did, and what I saw amazed me.

The person in the mirror was not me.

She wasn't the blushing, clumsy vampire I was. She was beautiful, someone who may actually look like she deserved to stand by Edward at the altar.

A smile slowly began to appear across my lips, lighting up my whole face and making everything seem so surreal.

"Well, I think she's found the dress," Rosalie muttered, smiling.

Indeed I had.

*****

"So we have to go back in two weeks exactly to pick up the dress, after they make their length adjustments."

"Leave it to Bella to be too short to fit in the dress that fits her perfectly otherwise," Rose snorted, flipping through a magazine on the couch.

"I'm not short," I pouted, plopping on the arm chair across from her; Edward's armchair, "I'm five four. Perfect height." Her eyebrows rose as she looked over the top of a page. Her and her three and a half foot long legs, six foot, model-like-figure self.

The tinkling of a silver cell phone rang through the room. Rose grabbed her phone from the table beside her and answered with annoyed boredom.

"Hello, Emmett." I giggled at the look on her face until she shot me a look.

"No! If you even think about buying me the cheap perfume, I'm cutting you off for a month!" She snapped the phone shut and threw it on the couch beside her, then continued reading her magazine like nothing had happened.

Cutting him off… oh… _ew_.

I shuddered, getting of the chair and making my way to the bathroom to shower, then to Edward's room. Everything in there smelt just like him. It was my favorite place to go when he was away; besides the piano.

I walked in, trying to dry off my hair as much as I possibly could before jumping into the bed.

It was already ten at night, and shopping all day had worn me out.

I grabbed the pillow Edward usually laid on when I slept, pulling it against my chest and burying my nose in it. It was the most potent smell. His honey and sun-scented hair and body scent seemed to wrap around me, causing my breathing to become near to nonexistent.

It was hard to fall asleep without him next to me, humming my lullaby. I could have stayed up for him, but the last time I had done that he had become upset seeing as it was a school night and I had ended up only getting about two hours of sleep.

I shut my eyes tight, wishing sleep to come over me and relieve me of my fatigue and loneliness. It wasn't bad loneliness. Three vampires were doing things around the house below me. But loneliness as in no Edward.

I sighed, pulling the blankets and pillow tighter to me, and waited for unconsciousness to steal me.

*****

_Edward POV_

I stalked into the room, shutting the door quickly, softly; not wanting the hall light to fall into the darkness and wake her.

I smiled at the sight of her, curled into a tight ball, a pillow – the pillow I usually laid upon – wrapped tightly in her creamy pale arms. I stepped to the side of the bed, staring down at her lovely face, illuminated by the moon light shining through the opened curtain.

My eyes traced over every one of her perfect features, from the way her hair delicately swept over her forehead, to the precision of her small nose, to the perfect lining of her full lips. My eyes grazed over her closed ones, watching each thick, long, dark eyelash individually, each one exquisite alone, but infinitely beautiful as a whole.

My hand reached down to cup her cheek and her head moved up slightly, forming the side of her face perfectly into my palm. It was funny how she undeniably deserved someone much better than me, but we still seemed to fit together like a puzzle. Like God flaunting to me something he has given me, but knows I shouldn't have.

I slid onto the bed beside her, lying on top of the duvet she had snuggled herself deep into. I bent one of my arms behind my head as a pillow seeing as mine was currently in use and traced the shape of her lips with my index finger.

Her mouth opened slightly, the lips vibrating in an incoherent mumble, before she sighed and fell back into sleep.

I smiled as her lips opened once again, whispering the name that never failed to fall out of her mouth in sleep. _Mine_.

Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss against her lips, her forehead, her cheek, her nose, her chin. Breathing in her scent, I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her closer to me. Her small hands reached up, gripping the fabric of my shirt, burying her head into my chest. I pressed my face into the crook of her neck, my eyes shutting in bliss.

She was warm. Warmer than my body.

She squirmed slightly against me, her legs moving to stretch out from their curled position.

I lifted my head, my eyes trained on her still closed ones, until her eyelids fluttered, slowly revealing piercing golden orbs.

A lethargic smile came across her face as her eyes met mine before closing again, her head burying back into my chest sending waves of content through my body.

"Edward…" she hummed, her voice still laced sleep. An unstoppable smile grew across my face at the sound of my name on her lips.

"Hello, love…" I whispered, pressing my lips against her hair and leaving them there.

Her feet untangled themselves from the sheets, pressing against mine, twirling around them to connect us from head to toe, literally.

"Sleep," I whispered as she opened her eyes again.

She silently obeyed, pressing her body flush against mine, her fingers wrapping around my hand. My face buried back into the crook of her neck, quickly pressing my lips against the soft skin there before her lullaby formed into that of a humming sound ran through the quiet stillness, lulling her back to sleep.

_Bella POV_

My fingers twitched as the sun shone through my eyelids, creating a bright reddish- orange glow for my eyes to see, instead of the blackness of nothing.

I groaned, stretching my legs out from under the blanket, my eyes still shut.

Yesterday's trip came back into mind and I sighed, suddenly thankful for my ability to sleep. It was eight hours where shopping _was not_ a possibility. Although it was a long day yesterday, I was glad it was done with. Now I could spend my entire day with –

_But he's not here_. _Wait… no…? _

Pieces of last night were slowly crawling into my mind.

_The coolness of a body suddenly pressed against mine, the whispered greeting, the feel of his lips against my hair, my feet twining around his… my lullaby_.

My eyes snapped open with the rush of recollections only to be met with a pair of flaxen gold ones.

Edward's mouth lifted into a one-sided smile as he gazed down at me, his bronze hair ruffled from lying on the pillow. A blush crimsoned my cheeks as I realized I was still holding onto his pillow. His smile widened as he looked down at the pillow clasped to my chest, then back to my face. I blushed harder, if possible, and pulled the pillow away placing it back where it belonged.

"It smelled like you…" I muttered an explanation, turning my eyes from his to spare me further embarrassment.

The pillow was pushed back into my arms and I looked back up into his glinting orbs.

"It's your pillow now. For the next time I'm away." I smiled, throwing the pillow aside and threw my arms around his neck. He laughed, hugging me back.

"You can probably just leave it here, though," his velvety voice spoke into my ear, the hair around my ear blowing around from his breath, sending a tickling sensation to my skin.

"Wouldn't that defeat the point of you giving it to me?" I giggled, pulling away from his embrace until his arms tightened around my waist, pulling me back to him; which I happily obliged.

"It wouldn't defeat the point if you moved in with me," he said while looking up at me from under his lashes. Something that must not have taken long for him to master. That and dazzling me.

"W-what?" I closed my eyes, willing my brain to think straight.

"Think about it, Bella," his fingers pressed to my temples causing my eyes to open, "you'd be moving in after we were married anyway… why not now? Esme would be so ecstatic."

I smirked, my eyes narrowing.

"But I thought you liked my house because it gave us more _privacy_?" I teased, playing with one of the buttons on his shirt.

"Yes, but what I don't like is the time we are apart. When you're at your house right before and after school and I at mine. The mere notion that I have to leave you in the early morning to get ready for school causes a great deter in my life, losing time watching you sleep."

He stared at me, his eyes wide and alight with excitement. I was practically at a loss for words from the sheer force of his enthusiasm.

"Well, I guess it _would _make sense."

I smiled as did Edward. He pressed his lips gently to mine and pulled away, too quickly. He stood up, moving swiftly to the door.

"Where are you going?" I questioned, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I, my dear, am going to stop Emmett from wrecking your personal belongings. He has generously, and rather elatedly, decided to help you pack." And with that he was gone. Along with Emmett….

**I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while. Please, don't hate me!!!!!!!!! So this was an extra long chapter (kind of) to get you through the wait, review please! :)**


	25. Wedding Bells

**Hey readers. I'm sorry for the long wait for an update but I've been busy with the holidays… and really just kind of bored with this story so I'm sorry/happy to say (whichever way you look at it) this will be the last chapter.**

_One Month Later: Bella POV_

The piano started playing the annual wedding tempo, telling my feet to start moving.

"Bella," Carlisle prompted while pulling me forward after a failed try of moving.

"I know this all seems very nerve-wrecking at the moment, getting married and all, but just take a deep breath. After all, there's only going to be six 'people' in attendance," I smiled at his reassuring words and let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"Let's go," I whispered before I could lose my cool, or trip over a blade of grass.

Thanks to Esme, the backyard had been transformed into a beautiful garden-like wedding scene, equipped with two benches for seating, and a table with a large cake on it for show.

The bushes gave way as we turned the corner, allowing me my first glimpse of my soon, very soon-to-be husband. The breath caught in my throat at the picture-perfect sight of him. My dead heart fluttered at the sight of his bronze hair – messy and unruly as it usually was.

I could have just pictured the torture Alice had gone through to try and get it to stay tamed. But I was glad all their attempts failed – if they had even tried any, that is. I rather liked his hair a mess.

I blushed as his eyes trailed over my body when I reached him, before a huge and dazzling smile took over his features, his golden orbs glowing with pure happiness.

It was as though the happiness radiated off of him to me as I found myself impatient for the priest to begin reading the little booklet in front of him that would end in the uniting of Edward and I, impossibly more than we were already.

His voice was a rattling in the back of my mind as I stared into Edward's eyes and I tried to concentrate.

"I do," Edward suddenly muttered.

"And do you, Isabella Swan take Edward Cullen to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

I blinked, not sure where the time had gone.

"I-I do." I whispered. Edward smiled even wider than before, as if he wasn't sure what my answer would be. Edward being Edward he was probably still waiting for me to 'realize the mistake I am making'. Like _I'm_ the one making the mistake….

"You may kiss the bride,"

God, I really had to start paying more attention.

Edward's arms wound around my waist before pulling me into him and capturing my lips in a passionate kiss.

I could barely register the omnipresent flashing as Alice took hundreds upon thousands of pictures.

He pulled away, whispered "I love you" against my lips, pressed his lips to mine once again, and then finally straightened us back up.

I smiled, my hand squeezing his fingers gently.

We were married.

_**Epilogue**_

"Love, we have to go. We will miss our flight," I turned to Edward, my bottom lip jutting out.

I didn't want to leave Esme Island. We had been here for two weeks for our honeymoon. Two weeks of romance… and well, what newly-weds do on their honeymoons. Many times….

"Promise me we'll come back," I demanded.

"I promise you that we will come back whenever you please." I smiled, as did Edward as he took my hand and kissed my palm.

"Now, if I am not mistaken, we should be leaving."

"But I like it here. Couldn't we just stay for another week? Rose told me that she and Emmett once took a two _month_ long honeymoon." Edward's eyes were slightly glazed over and I knew he was trying to convince himself to leave. I had one more way to try and negotiate him to staying a while longer.

I pressed my body against his and he looked down at me as my finger traced a pattern on the cloth over his chest. He blinked, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Besides, another week would mean another seven days of-" he didn't let me finish as his mouth connected with mine.

The suitcases he had in his hands were soon thrown to the side as he pushed me back onto the bed, his hands eagerly pulling at the buttons of my shirt before he ripped it off me, impatient with the buttons.

"I'll buy you another shirt before Alice even has the _chance_ to yell at me," he promised before his mouth carried on its descent to my neck. I giggled, pulling at his shirt.

It seemed I was better with the buttons.

Perhaps I could carry this out _another_ week….

**Well, that's it for this story. I must admit that I am kind of sad to be finishing it, but I'm starting a new story that I have been outlining over vacation!! It's called **_**The Marriage**_**. You should check it out!! First chapter is up and I'll post the second tomorrow!!**

**Thank you to all of those who stuck with me!! It was much appreciated, as were your wonderful reviews!!!**


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